


Unexpected

by Tarvera



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Peter Hale, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Werewolves Are Known, Explicit Consent, Explicit Sexual Content, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Good Peter Hale, Kidnapping, M/M, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Omega Stiles Stilinski, Pack Building, Some Plot, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:54:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 53,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26624005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarvera/pseuds/Tarvera
Summary: Peter had never been interested in mating with an omega. He has always felt like all the propaganda around a wolf finding something special in an omega rather than a mate of their own kind if garbage. Omegas are annoying, and simpering and silly. Unfortunately, his recently acquired alpha status means that if he wants to finally break free of his sister’s pack, he needs an omega mate.Stiles never ever wanted to mate with a werewolf. Werewolves, especially alpha werewolves, are obnoxious, pretentious douchebags who are only looking for an omega as a notch in their status belt. Unfortunately, fate has conspired against him. He needs an alpha mate and fast, not only that but someone powerful enough to stand up to Talia Hale.Sometimes it’s the most unexpected things in life that bring you exactly what you are looking for.
Relationships: Peter Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 288
Kudos: 1614
Collections: Teen wolf





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I never thought I'd write in the ABO world but I had a plot bunny that would not go away. All I know about this universe if what I've read in teen wolf fan fiction so if I get something wrong or weird that's why. It's a little non traditional as alpha and betas are only werewolves and omegas are kind of their own thing but only born to humans. It gets explained a bit better as the story goes on as well. 
> 
> I have three chapters done and think about three more to go. It'll be a bit of a slower update than my other stories as I'm trying to focus on them and write on this one when I need a break from the intensity.

Peter hated parties like this. The only point to coming to these things was to find a mate and the last thing Peter wanted in his life was a simpering, pandering, perfect omega mate. Yet, here he was looking for just that. He forced another smile on his face as Talia swept up to once again introduce him to the daughter of so and so. He let himself ooze charm as he daintily kissed her hand and watched her blush and giggle just like all the others. He was so sick of it. He smiled at the little thing’s father and made all the right comments that were expected in settings like this. Letting the father puff up in pride at raising such a _good_ omega daughter. 

Deucalion appeared at his side if summoned (he had been) to whisk him away just as the father was about to invite Peter for a drink. There was an urgent thing that must only be discussed with Alpha Hale, you see, said Deucalion. His smooth voice charming over any objections the father might have had. And away Peter was whisked. Thank the gods he and Deuc had come up with this escape plan a long time ago. 

Growling into his second (5th) glass of wolfsbane infused whiskey of the night Peter glared out at the sea of people that had come to this year’s annual “Meet and Mate A Pack Alpha” party. The gathering was not actually called this but it was what Peter had called it so often in his mind for years that he had completely forgotten by now what it was actually called. Basically, it was a time for any pack alpha that wanted an omega mate to come meet all the upper echelon omega’s and find one to pursue a courtship with. 

He sighed and quickly shuffled further back into the dark corner he had found to hide in for the moment. Talia had yet another pretentious looking alpha human who was hauling along an omega daughter. This daughter looked more terrified than simpering. Peter honestly felt sorry for most of the omega’s. The majority of them would barely speak five words to their future alpha before the contract was signed with the father. No matter how much headway the human rights activists and omega rights activists got in human only circles, it would never touch pack culture. 

Werewolf society had been the elite for far too long. Humans may be equal in many things now but in reality they would never be able to do away with the pack laws that were written into western society’s very bones. He normally didn’t have strong opinions one way or the other over werewolf vs. human laws. They usually were enough intertwined and overlapping that it didn’t matter much for the majority of humans or even the majority of common werewolves. Even for parties like this, you had to be of old blood to get an invite. The humans and wolves here would be able to trace their family lines back generations of being the elite of society. 

He sighed again. They had come so far from the old pack ways where an alpha and their mate would guide a pack together. When an omega’s magic could call lighting or move storm clouds. All an omega could do with their magic nowadays was make pretty sparkles or call up illusions of roses. 

“Still hiding I see.” Deucalion’s smooth voice interrupting his increasingly morose thoughts. 

“It’s just so stupid, Deuc.” 

“Careful, Peter, you never know who might tune their ears to try and find out the prodigal Hale son’s next plans since inexplicably becoming a pack alpha.” 

Peter glared at him. “One thing I can say for these things is that people tend to at least not spread information they hear at them.” 

Deucalion shrugged while gazing over the crowd himself. “Still, I have found it is often better to only say what can be repeated in front of anyone while at a party.” 

Peter resisted the urge to roll his eyes (just barely) and stared morosely down at his empty glass. Idly wondering if he could get to the bar and back before Talia noticed him he looked over his friend. “I’m surprised you are still here. Usually you leave after the cursory checking in with all your ‘allies’.” 

The other alpha gave him a small smile. “Why, Peter, I thought I’d stay to help my friend make a choice that will affect him the rest of his life. Any one of these fine young omegas could be the next Hale bride.” Making a sweeping gesture with an arm across the room Deuc’s eyes sparkled with mirth. 

“They wish…” Peter muttered into his (still) empty glass. “I wish...” He huffed and shifted back and forth, “...I wish just one of these omegas would be different. Have a fight to them or an opinion...or something.” 

Deucalion rolled his eyes and looked like he was about to respond in his usual cutting manner when a loud crash from the center of the room made everyone freeze and stare. Two young men were glaring furiously at each other. One had obviously just been thrown to the ground and had red eyes glowing and fangs dropped. 

Peter sighed, of course, Theo Raekon. The boy was the youngest alpha there and in Peter’s mind shouldn’t be there at all. The barely adult had just inherited the alpha spark from his father who had died two months previous. The new alpha was still on the power high and used every opportunity to try and exert his newfound authority. Peter wouldn’t be at all surprised to find out that his pack would report him to the council as unfit in the next month or so. 

He turned his attention to the other young man, also looking barely adult age who was giving Raekon a scornful look. The crash itself looked to have come from Raekon falling on a server’s tray of drinks. The server was frantically apologizing to Raekon while the other boy was apologizing to the server. Peter almost wanted to thank them all for livening up the evening when Talia came sailing into the fray with a fixed smile on her face. The smile dropped and her eyes went livid when they landed on the unknown boy. He in turn, gave her a cocky grin and salute before trying to make a hasty retreat. Talia was quicker though and sped up to grab the boy’s arm and begin to haul him out of the room throwing out cheerful apologies as she half dragged the boy out. 

Much to Peter’s pleasure she came close enough to his hiding place for him to get a good look at the boy. The smell smacked him in the face. Omega. Sweet honeysuckle mixed with ozone and petrichor filled his nostrils as he took a deeper breath just before the door shut behind them. Duec’s hand on his shoulder made him realize his control was close to slipping. Shaking it off he turned to his friend who had a knowing smirk on his lips. 

“Well. Was that different enough for you?” 

Peter just ignored him and hurriedly slipped out of the door after that delicious scent. The scent seemed to lessen a bit once he hit the hallway but it was strong enough for him to follow it to a half open door a couple hallways down. Talia’s raised voice also gave it away. 

“-- don’t know what you could have possibly been thinking coming here of all places.” 

“Oh so it’s ok to issue an invitation to the lowliest of lows but for them to actually show up is crossing the line? Excuse me, your majesty, for not knowing such etiquette. I guess they skipped the ‘don’t actually go to parties you received an invite to’ class in school.” 

“Sass and sarcasm are the lowest form of humor, Omega Stil --”

“And condescension and scorn is just plain old rudeness but hey, guess we can’t all be equal in our social defects can we.” 

“And having the sheer nerve to attack and alpha at this event. As an omega from my territory anything you do has a direct impact on me. I will expect you to apologize imm --” 

“Fuck NO! And fuck you, alpha Hale. You know well enough that as I’m not a werewolf you have absolutely zero say in my life even if I do live in your hellmouth of a territory.” 

While Peter could have probably stood there and listened to his sister be totally schooled by a mouthy omega all evening, the urge to see and know was too strong. Taking a few steps forward he slipped easily into the room and raised an eyebrow. Talia’s mouth snapped shut and she glared at him. 

“Is there a problem, Talia? Alpha Raekon is still upset and demands attention like a spoiled toddler. I would have thought you’d be right in that fray cleaning up the mess that I suppose, your omega made.” 

Peter wasn’t sure which face showed more disgust at the last comment but they were both a delight to behold. Talia gave one last glare at the omega before leveling her brother with an equally annoyed look. 

“I will go handle it. Make yourself useful for once Peter and see this omega gets to...wherever he needs to go safely please. You,” She turned back to the omega who widened his eyes and pointed to himself in surprise, “go with Peter, leave and I’ll maybe forget about this the next time I see an application cross my desk for visitation.” 

The omega just looked furious as she swept back out of the room with one last glare at the both of them. Peter spun back and made an obvious sweep of his eyes up and down the pretty thing. The omega just gave him an unimpressed flat look. 

“Great, I guess I’ll just be going now. You can toddle off to finding your perfect underage mate and not be bothered by all these shameful shenanigans anymore.” The omega gave an exaggerated bow and went to move past Peter. While being careful not to touch the boy, Peter sidled up as close as he dared and purred in the boy’s ear. 

“What if I am a particular fan of shameful shenanigans?” 

“Oh gods, yes, I’m a male omega, congratulations on actually laying eyes on the rare majestic unicorn that is me. No, I’m not a whore or a slut. No, I don’t sleep with any alpha who purrs in my ear like an overgrown feral tabby cat. Now back off, I apparently have a party to get as far away from as possible.” 

Peter was so shocked he actually moved and let the omega storm pass him. Frantically he tried to catch up with what just happened. This had been much more amusing watching it happen to Talia than experiencing it himself. This was the most exciting thing that had happened to him since becoming an alpha. Spinning around he hurried after the intoxicating scent and it’s owner. 

“Wait, please, let me apologize.” 

Slowly, the omega turned back. Meeting Peter’s gaze, the boy deflated slightly. “No, shit, I’m sorry too. I overreacted.” 

Peter gave him a rueful grin. “I don’t blame you if Theo Raekon said even an eighth of the things to you he likes to spout off in the company of all alphas. I’ve almost given him a beat down several times and I’m not even the one who should be offended.” 

The omega grimaced slightly and looked down at the floor. “Yeah, well, at least it would be socially acceptable for another alpha to do it. Me, I’m a shame to my gender.” 

“I thought it was very impressive. Livened up what was otherwise a completely dull evening.” Peter paused, trying to calculate how much he could push right now. “If I’m not being too forward, may I buy you a drink in thanks?” 

The omega’s sharp brown eyes landed on him fully now, assessing him. He wasn’t sure he had felt so exposed in his life as he did to that gaze. Slowly, the omega nodded. “I suppose, then at least I can tell myself I talked to one alpha without being a total failure. Gods, I am so shit at this. I shouldn’t have come.” 

Raising his eyebrows, Peter said, “I think you’ll have to explain why you did come here then. But, over drinks. Shall we?” He gestured down the hall and away from the sounds of the party. 

Peter steered the boy out through the hotel and quickly into a small bar he knew no one from the party circles would ever want to be seen in. It also had the desired effect of making the omega relax a little to be out of the higher end scene. From the comments he had overheard earlier and the clothes the omega was wearing Peter guessed that he would be comfortable in a place that had cheaper food and drink options. 

When they had settled in a back booth and given their orders to the server the omega shed his jacket and then started to fight to get his tie off. Peter watched amused, for about a minute, until he reached out and took over. “Here, let me. You know, these would be easier to take off if you didn’t actually tie a knot in it when putting it on.” 

The boy slumped into his seat and glared sullenly at the table. “Like I said, I’m really shit at this. The only other time I’ve worn a tie in my life a friend tied it for me.” 

“If you are so shit at this then why did you come here?” 

The omega leaned forward and rubbed his hands over his face. Away from his righteous anger, he looked exhausted. Peter’s eyes narrowed as he took in the boy in front of him again. Too skinny as well, beneath the natural scent there was deep grief and sadness with the faintest hints of another omega scent that was almost gone completely. 

“Honestly? I didn’t know what else to do. I need to mate an alpha powerful enough to help me...and I was hoping to find one and make a deal or something. But,” He grimaced, “nobody wants a male omega who -- well, you know.” 

“Has a mind of their own?” Peter put in, smiling humorlessly. 

“Exactly.” 

Their food and drinks came. As the omega rolled up his sleeves, Peter got the edges of tattoos snaking up the boy’s arms and he itched to know how far they went up and what they were off. Every little piece of information made him just desire to know more. 

Carefully, he asked, “And why do you need to make a pack alpha? I should think there would be enough humans out there that have money and influence enough for you.” 

Swirling the drink slightly, the omega stared into it for a moment before responding. “Not powerful enough to go up against Talia Hale.” 

Peter sat up at that and said back just as carefully. “Why do you want to go against Talia?” 

“Want is a strong word here, more like desperately need to...ok, shit, I guess you really don’t know. I wondered for a bit if you were just trying to play me here. Ok, so, wait, fuck. Do you even know my name?” 

Peter gave the boy an amused grin. “I do not.” 

“Right. It’s Stiles. Yes, really, it’s a nickname, my real one no one can pronounce it anymore except my sister and presumably people from Poland but I’ve never been there so haven’t been able to test out that theory yet. Right...so my dad died six months ago. My sister was only eight years old and an omega. I was applying for custody and it looked likely that I would get it. The whole area knew my dad because he was the sheriff and me because I’m loud and obnoxious. At first it looked like it would be fine but then…” 

Stiles broke off and stared determinedly at the wall for several long moments. “How much do you know about the feral alpha that went through Beacon Hills three years ago?” 

Peter startled slightly, “Not much to be honest. Mostly just what was on the news. I was kept pretty busy by other pack matters and wasn’t even fully aware of it until Derek came parading back with a newly bitten werewolf to join the pack.” He grimaced, Scott McCall was exhibit’s a-z of why humans should be carefully chosen before being given the bite. 

Stiles matched his grimace. “Yeah, Scott was my best friend and I didn’t exactly...appreciate the way your sister handled the situation. She was trying to keep it quiet, she didn’t want anyone to know a human alpha had been bitten or that a feral pack alpha had made such a mess in her home territory. But I was a righteous teenager, who had lost a friend in the mess and I went to the news about it. She found out it was me and I guess she can really carry a grudge. Scott and I ended up having a super big falling out over it and I think his mom must have told him about Miriam and before you knew it a big ass lawyer from her firm shows up and throws enough money around that I lose any chance of getting custody and not only that she gets shipped off to this special boarding school for omegas.” 

Stiles was getting agitated and stopped. Peter reached over on instinct to grab the boy’s hand and rub his thumb over Stiles’ pulse point. Taking a couple of deep breaths, the omega went on. 

“I tried to go visit her but they wouldn’t let me in. Apparently they got told I was a bad influence or something. The thing is, I know she’s not ok there. I just know it. She sent some letters and she actually used this old code that was used by my mom and her sister when they were kids. She said they would lock her in this closet overnight if she did anything ‘un-omega’ like and -- shit. I just...I need...to get her out of there and I didn’t know what to do other than try and find an alpha strong enough to stand up to Talia and help me.” 

Peter sat back, his mind racing through this and all the possible implications of it. None of it surprised him knowing his sister. Her mother had been from an incredibly traditional family and had raised Talia to be just like her. Talia wouldn’t have even thought of it as being cruel. The society families all sent their daughters to these places. Looking back at Stiles he had to hold back a grin. This could be it. 

“My sister is very good at keeping things out of the news and less credible places.” He started slowly, looking down at the table but could hear the shift as Stiles’ attention went back on him. “Talia brought that alpha back to try and bring them back out of the madness. For a while it looked like it might work but about a year ago he got out. Kidnapped my niece’s two children and demanded that Talia grant him the Beacon Hills territory. I killed him before he could hurt the children which is how my sudden status change happened. As you know, holding actual territory for a pack is alpha isn’t the most common anymore.” 

Stiles nodded, “Yeah, only the older families who had it passed down get to have actual territory with humans living on it. Otherwise, the human’s rights people have managed to lock down an alpha just going, oh hey, this land is my land now.” 

“Exactly. The only way for a pack alpha to gain territory is either for another pack alpha to grant it to them or…” 

Stiles’ eyes widened. “You go to the council and state a claim. If enough humans or werewolves from the territory support your claim and the council decides you are worthy they can take it away from one alph and give it to another.” 

“Yes.” Peter watched Stiles carefully and saw the moment the omega figured out the rest. 

“You also need an omega mate from the territory you want to claim.” The dark eyes regarded him carefully again. Peter nodded but didn’t say anything else, just let the omega think through it. 

“Could you do it? Would the council grant it?” 

“I believe I have enough friends on there by now. Talia was also the one that moved the family off the Hale lands to the ones left to her by her mother. The incident of the rogue and the poor decision making there, especially if presented to the council by someone who lived through it...” Peter let the end trail off. There were a lot of signals coming off Stiles at the moment. Anticipation mixed with apprehension but also something like resolve was building. 

“You mean it. You would really make me your mate so you could claim the Hale lands.” 

Peter leaned forward and caught up the omega’s wrist again. “I really do mean it, Stiles. That’s why I was at the party tonight. Having a mate from the territory wouldn’t be mandatory since I was born there but it definitely gives me an even stronger case. I can give you what you want and you can help me get what I want. What’s more, I can promise you that I have never wanted some simpering omega, I took you here before I knew any of this because I have never met an omega that intrigued me so much.” 

Stiles took a deep breath and stared wide eyed in his eyes. Peter smiled at him. The pounding heartbeat wasn’t from fear this time but want. “Yes. Yes, I will mate you.” 

Peter felt his eyes flare. “Good.” He checked the time and then grimaced. “We will have to wait to make a contract tomorrow though. Where are you staying?” 

“Oh uh, around…” 

He looked up with a frown and narrowed his eyes at Stiles. “That’s not exactly an answer.” 

The boy actually blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I was planning on sleeping in my jeep.” 

Peter startled forward slightly, “No. I mean, please, let me get you a room.” 

A slightly defiant gaze passed over Stiles’ face. “I can protect myself.” 

Willing down his instincts to just bundle up the boy and take him up to Peter’s own rooms, he forced himself to answer in careful words. “I know, I did see evidence of that. However, this is something that I want to be able to do for you to show how serious I am about this. Even when my head knows you would be fine in your jeep my instincts will not be. I would probably not sleep at all unless I know for sure you are somewhere safe.” 

Thankfully, Stiles gave in with minimal amounts of fussing. Peter sent him to fetch his jeep which was (also thankfully) not parked too far away while he went in to get another hotel room. The hotel that the banquet was held at every year always kept some of their omega rooms free in case of any last minute guests or changes to the plans. A little tip to the beta at the front desk and Peter was assured silence on the matter. He did not want Talia to get wind of this until the contract was signed and done. 

He had to wait another anxious ten minutes for Stiles to show up. Giving the jeep a once over he blanched internally. The first thing he was going to do as a courting gift was to get this thing serviced. After Stiles had been sent up to the room, Peter headed back up to the party. He was hoping Deucalion hadn’t left yet. He was in luck and managed to pull the other alpha away rather quickly and also avoid Talia noticing him. She would probably assume he had just taken the opportunity to run away. 

“Well? Come on, my friend, don’t keep me waiting any longer. Marin would kill me if I came home without any details.” 

Peter grinned at him. “Come up to my rooms for a nightcap.” 

He managed to wait until the door closed but was unable to draw any of it out like he would normally tell such a story. By the time he had finished, Deucalion was looking slightly gobsmacked. 

“Well, this is a bit of luck for you.” The other alpha’s eyes narrowed. “Please tell me you are planning to have his story checked out before agreeing to anything. While such a ruse would be beneath Talia, there are others who would get a little too much joy out of bamboozling you.” 

Peter mouthed bamboozle back at the man before rolling his eyes. “Of course I’m going to check out the story. I already called a few people and got them started on it. What do you take me for?” 

Settled back into the couch, Deucalion smirked at him. “I will, of course, be there tomorrow to take a look for myself.” 

Peter nodded, “Of course. I was going to ask if Marin could come as well. Stiles won’t have anyone to stand for him or even as his support and I’m hoping the presence of another omega might make him feel like things are a little more even.” 

“I don’t believe Marin would miss you agreeing to mate with an omega for the world my friend. I am looking forward to it myself. If I wasn’t so happily mated I might find myself a bit jealous. That boy is completely delicious.” 

Peter smirked and toasted his drink at his friend. Things were finally coming into place for him. This could be the last step in getting what he wanted. There needed to be a Hale in Beacon Hills, no matter what Talia or that idiot druid said. The territory needed an alpha and like hell would Peter ever let that alpha be anyone but himself.


	2. Chapter 2

The loud blare of his phone woke Stiles up from the best night of sleep he’d probably had since his dad had died. Glaring at the offending device he scrambled over to the nightstand but didn’t get there before it went to voicemail. He briefly contemplated ignoring and going back to sleep but even in his sleep addled state he knew only one person had programmed themselves in to override his do not disturb mode. They were also the one person left alive that he was still afraid of. With a muttered curse word he finished his scramble and picked up the phone just as it started ringing again. 

“Ssup, Lyds.” 

“Stiles Stilinski, open your door right now.” 

Frowning he pulled the phone away from his ear and confirmed that yes, it was Lydia who was calling him. “Uh, not at home…” 

An angry huff then, “Of course not you moron, you are in Seattle at the annual pick a pack alpha stupidity that goes on every year. Now open your damn hotel door room.” 

Still not convinced he wasn’t dreaming (but even dream Stiles knew better to ignore Lydia Martin-Whittemore when she used that tone of voice) he managed to stumble out of bed and over to the hotel door. Wrenched it open he was immediately attacked by a lethal redheaded assailant in four inch heels. Somehow managed to hug her while both shutting the door and not falling over he managed to escape her grasp and confirm again that yes, Lydia was in his hotel room. 

“Whaaat….are you doing here?” 

She smacked him in the arm. “Like I was going to let you get mated to Peter fucking Hale without me there to make sure the contract takes care of you.” 

He opened his mouth then closed it. Nope. Still not dreaming. “How…?” 

She gave him a withering look. “One never reveals their sources.” He narrowed his eyes at her and finally she huffed and gave in. “Fine. Matt Daehler was taking pictures outside last night. He was about to post them to that atrocious website of his but Danny’s program flagged you and he called me and then I called Matt, you’re welcome by the way, and the pictures no longer exist anywhere. Then Jackson and I got on a plane and here we are.” 

He cautiously peered around her to make sure Jackson hadn’t managed to somehow sneak in when he wasn’t looking. She smacked his arm again. “Ow! Lydia, please be nice to me...I don’t even know what time it is and I just had the craziest of crazy nights and oh my gods and holy fucking shit Lydia I’m going to be mated to Peter Hale.” 

She rolled her eyes at him. “Yes. I do believe that is what you agreed to.” 

“Wait. How’d you know that part? Pictures are one thing but I know no one heard us talking, I cast the spell myself.” 

Lydia gave him an incredibly smug look. “Why else would you go out with Peter Hale and then come back in and he rents a special omega room at the very hotel he is staying at? I put the pieces together after Danny got us that much information. I came down here to make sure he hadn’t coerced you and to help you with the contract.” 

Feeling still like he was missing something he did manage to glare at her a little. “I am capable of taking care of myself you know. Of course he didn’t coerce me! If Scott -- well…” 

Her face softened. “I know. I just...we were worried, ok? We know how desperate you were getting and then you disappeared. We half thought you were going to go try and kidnap Miri out of that place on your own.” 

He shot her a look, feeling a little offended. “Like I would ever plan a kidnapping without you.” 

The look he got back was viscous. “Good. I would be mortally offended if you ever did. Now, tell me about Peter Hale and I’ll order room service.” 

Knowing it was just easier to give in, he sighed and began the story of last night as Lydia ordered up enough food to feed an army...or a werewolf. “Wait, where is Jackson?” 

“He’s waiting downstairs. The hotel wouldn’t let him up until after eight as he’s not an omega. You can call the front desk now though and give them permission to send him up.” 

“Oh, wow, huh. They take things seriously here.” 

She sniffed. “Of course they do.” 

Rolling his eyes he picked up the phone and made the call. Once Jackson arrived he had to go over the story again. Thankfully the food distracted Lydia from making him repeat it for a third time. She finished before him and Jackson and immediately started going through his clothes and making constant noises of annoyance at every piece she pulled out. 

He rolled his eyes at Jackson. “Lydia, must you do this every time I go somewhere you think I need to dress up for? My clothes haven’t changed since the last time you went through them.” 

She sighed deeply, “First thing the two of us are doing after that contract is signed and he gives you access to his money we are going shopping. If you are going to make this work as his omega and get him Beacon Hills, you need to look completely amazing.” 

He turned beseechingly to Jackson who now rolled his eyes at Stiles. “Just give in now, Stilinski, you know it’s easier this way.” 

“Fine…” He fell back onto the bed only to get slapped in the face by a pair of jeans.

“Put these on. Jackson go down to our luggage and get that black shirt that you keep complaining is too tight on you.” 

Once he was finally decked out to Lydia’s satisfaction it was almost 10am, he was supposed to meet Peter at 11 in the alpha’s rooms. This caused a mild panic to set in. Jackson and Lydia dragged him outside at that point and after he had done a good mile walk with them he was feeling calm enough to go back in. They had poked holes in every aspect of his plan that they could and by the end of it the three of them were satisfied that this was his best course of action. Thankfully, he still had time for a quick cry on Lydia’s shoulder before she finished cleaning him up. 

He had never been as grateful for the two of them as felt in the moment when he had to knock on the hotel room door of the alpha he was going to mate. It had all seemed so matter of fact and reasonable last night and again this morning when he had been explaining it to Jackson and Lydia. But it was real now. 

The door opened and Peter was standing there. Stiles felt his mouth go dry as he took in the casual attire of the alpha in front of him. 

“Holy shit, you’re hot.” He blurted out. Jackson let out a snort and a mutter of ‘only you Stilinski’ while Lydia sighed deeply. 

Peter just smirked at him while raking his now red eyes up and down Stiles’ body. He was suddenly very glad that Lydia had dressed him this morning and he hadn’t been left to put on his usual graphic shirt and flannel combo. When the alpha raised curious eyebrows at the two people next to him, he belatedly realized he should do introductions. 

“Oh, uh, this is Lydia Martin-Whittemore and her husband, Beta Jackson Whittemore of the Hollowway pack.” 

“It is a pleasure to meet the both of you. Forgive my surprise, Stiles didn’t mention any friends of his being in town as well last night…” 

Lydia jumped in before he could make a mess of it by trying to explain it on his own. “Oh we weren’t in town last night, we just got in this morning. We intend to make sure Stiles is fairly represented today in the contract negotiations.” She gave him her shark scenting the blood in the water smile and then sailed into the room. Stiles sighed and Jackson patted him on the back in solidarity. 

“Pack Hallowway, they are located in San Francisco?” Peter turned to Jackson as the three of them followed Lydia into the room. 

“Yes, I’m a bit surprised you’ve heard of them actually.” Jackson answered, his smile friendly. 

Peter smiled back. “I try to keep tabs on all the pack alpha’s within driving distance of Beacon Hills. It’s always helpful to know your neighbors in a crisis.” 

Stiles, now feeling a bit adrift, slowly turned to take in the opulent hotel room. Lydia came back up from wherever she had gone (knowing her, she could now probably tell someone every single item that was in the hotel room) and shoved a bottle of water into his hands along with a package of nuts. He narrowed his eyes at her, she simply glared back. A cough snapped his attention back to Peter, the alpha had sat down on the couch and was watching them with an amused look. Blushing, Stiles hastily sat down as well. 

“Uh, sorry I didn't warn you I was bringing people. I didn’t know myself until they showed up.” 

Peter waved it off, “Please, don’t apologize, it actually makes me more at ease knowing that you have someone here with you. This way no one can claim I forced you into anything later.” 

Lydia shot him a smug look. “Yeah, yeah, I know Lyds, you are the queen awesome of the awesome, we all bow down to your genius.” 

“I take it you have all known each other for a while?” Peter cut in before Lydia could respond. 

Jackson snorted, “You can say that. These two have been joined at the hip since the hospital they were born in.” 

A knock on the door stopped Peter from commenting further. At Stiles’ confused look, the alpha smiled, “I also asked a friend to sit in. He can sign as a witness as a member of the council.” 

Once the new alpha and his mate came in Stiles’ nerves started to go up again. Shit, this was real, here was a member of the council to witness this. Shit. Jackson reached over to grip the back of his neck and rub a thumb just under his hairline to soothe him. As he shot Jackson a grateful look he noticed Peter stiffening at the sign of affection for a moment before the alpha smiled again. After performing introductions they all sat and Peter produced copies of a contract he had written up. 

Lydia snatched them up before he could even take a glance. With a sign, he sank back into the couch. She was better at this sort of thing. The other alpha, Deucalion, hummed thoughtfully before turning towards Jackson. 

“Is this a common occurrence or due to your mate’s friendship with Omega Stilinski?” 

Jackson and him gave the alpha confused looks. Lydia looked up, her smile sharp and brittle. “We all have our strengths, Alpha Blackwood, mine happen to be in this area. Stiles and Jackson have their own areas to take charge in.” 

The alpha nodded and smiled back at her, “Of course, I meant no offense or to imply anything untoward. It is just uncommon for a werewolf, even a beta, to allow an omega mate so much power in a relationship.” 

Jackson huffed, “Then clearly you haven’t experienced just how good of a partner an omega can be. Our life is made much easier by us playing to our natural strengths instead of forcing ourselves to fit the ones society would push on us.” He paused and looked towards the alpha’s mate, “I mean no offense either, Omega Blackwood.” 

She smiled at him, “None is taken, though I would prefer you use Morell-Blackwood. I too did not wish to lose a portion of my identity with my mating.” 

Stiles was about to ask a question when Lydia shoved some underlined papers at him. Properly distracted now he was able to tune out the conversation and focus. In the end, Lydia was fairly well satisfied with the contract. She argued for a few changes, mostly to do with Stiles’ autonomy with funds and what things would be set up for Miriam. Peter was respectful and listened to her in a way that made him hopeful that maybe this could turn out ok. They were about to finish up when he realized something. 

“What about kids?” 

Peter looked at him and frowned, “I’m sorry?” 

Blushing, but determined he clarified. “You don’t have anything about kids in the contract. I looked up a bunch of standard ones before I came here and all of them had clauses about children.” 

“Do you want there to be clauses about children in the contract?” 

“No, but I thought as an alpha --” 

“Stiles,” Peter leaned forward on his knees, clasping his hands together, “I want this to be an equal partnership between us. As I said last night, I have no interest in doing the traditional, barefoot and pregnant omega in the kitchen. If and when we have kids, I want it to be because we both want it and are ready.” 

Meeting Peter’s eyes he took a deep breath. Part of him was struggling to believe that this was real. It all just felt out of a storybook or movie. He managed to nod shakily and give agreement before they moved on. Soon, they were signing and it was done. He stood there staring stupidly at the pieces of paper for a few moments while Peter turned and started talking about strategy with Deucalion about when to go before the council to submit a claim. 

He gulped in a few breaths of air and cast a look at Lydia, she was staring at Peter in mild disapproval and he grinned. Clearing his throat he interrupted and said, “If you all would excuse us, please, I would like some time alone with my soon to be mate.” 

Silence descended and he fought back a flinch as all the eyes turned to him. He just raised a challenging eyebrow at Peter. Slowly, the alpha grinned. “Of course, my apologies. Deuc, maybe we could discuss this over dinner?” 

Deucalion smirked before standing to his feet. “Certainly. In the meanwhile, perhaps the Martin-Whittemore’s would like to join Marin and I for a light lunch?” 

Murmuring ascent, Lydia and Jackson got up to follow the other two out of the room. Lydia did level Stiles one last look, “Tomorrow you and I are going shopping. Understood?” 

“Lydia…” He moaned, “..fine.” 

“Good. We will skip dinner with everyone. After lunch I have some errands to run and I know Jackson has plans.” 

Finally, the door closed and Stiles was left alone with Peter Hale. He forced himself to meet the alpha’s gaze. Peter was smirking again as his eyes traveled up and down Stiles’ body. Well, shit, if that wasn’t turning him on. He shuddered at the intensity of the gaze and arousal started burning through his body. 

“So, uh, what now?” Stiles was proud his voice didn’t squeak at the hungry look he got in return. 

“Well...I can think of a few ideas.” 

Stiles rolled his eyes, “Beyond the sexytimes.” 

Peter huffed. “Well, we do need to finish the mating process and ‘sexytimes’ is needed for that. But you are right, we should talk about that first.” Glad that Peter seemed to be willing to talk about this, Stiles sank back down into the sofa. Peter joined him and picked up his hand. “Can you tell me what you’ve done before sweetheart?” 

Stiles blushed. “Um, yes, well, I’ve had sex. I…” Shit, he winced, what if Peter was one of those alpha who -- 

“Stiles, that’s fine, don’t build yourself into a panic darling. I don’t mind that you’ve had sex before. It actually makes this all a bit easier on me.” Peter actually winked at him. 

“Right, good.” Thinking of something then, Stiles looked over at Peter and said as demurely as possible. “I’ve only had it with humans though” 

Peter’s eyes flared red and he grinned. “Oh you wicked boy, you know exactly what that does to my wolf don’t you? That I’ll be your first alpha.” 

Stiles widened his eyes. “Does it?” He couldn’t keep it up though and cackled slightly. “Ok, and well, no condoms needed. I have an IUD that is for both humans and alphas.” 

Peter looked both surprised and pleased. “That definitely makes things easier. Now, I assume we would both like this to be pleasurable. How do you prefer the process do you like to initiate and maintain control or --” 

“I want you to control it.” Stiles cut in, feeling himself go red again. “I mean, you saw me last night, I like to not be controlled but in sex...well, I like to just give it all up to my partner.” 

Peter’s eyes flared again. “Sweetheart...you might just be perfect for me.” 

Stiles grinned at him then sobered a little. “Ok, so we know that part is good. What about the other things? Like the council and Miriam and --” 

Peter squeezed his hand gently, cutting him off. “I have already got one of my betas looking into how to apply for custody of Miriam. She should be able to get back to me at the latest sometime tomorrow. As for the council...well, that’s why we will be meeting with Deucalion and Marin for dinner.” 

Stiles looked at him, feeling a little off kilter. “You already sent someone about Miri? But we only just signed the contract....” 

“Darling, I sent someone to find out the information about your sister as soon as I got back to my room last night.” Feeling slightly overwhelmed, Stiles leapt up and started pacing the room. Peter watched him with a concerned look. “Stiles, are you all right?” 

“Yes! Yes...sorry, I just...this is all so much and so fast. I didn’t even think I’d find an alpha willing to do any of this with me but if I did I’d have to shut up and try to be good and sweet and all that omega bullshit nonsense. I mean, you just met Lydia! Omegas aren’t naturally hardwired to be any of that crap, it’s just trained into us like we’re dogs or horses or something...but then you say you want an omega who talks back and stands up for themselves and you go and start figuring out how to help me before -- gods, sorry, it’s just a lot. I keep waiting for you to get bad at me or tell me to shut up or something.” 

Peter stood up and gripped his hands. “Stiles, I will tell you as many times as I need to that I don’t want some simpering, pandering omega. Deuc went outside the normal society and found Marin and she has been a revelation to me. Most omegas who grow up without any wolf influence don’t want to mate with a wolf. I had given up on finding one until you. So believe me please, I want you and all your sarcasm and sass. We will have things to work through but I knew the moment I saw you throw that asshole down last night that you were the omega for me.” 

Stiles pushed forward and kissed Peter, wrapping his arms around the alpha as he did so. Peter kissed hungrily back. Slowly easing up, Stiles let go and backed away a little, tipping his neck to show submission. He was rewarded by red eyes and a low rumble. Grinning, he said, “Well, alpha, let’s get to that mating part then.” 

Peter moved forward in a slow stalk until he was almost standing flush to Stiles. Carefully, the alpha placed hands on Stiles’ hips and started rubbing two thumbs up and under his shirt to rest against bare skin. Heat pooled in his stomach at the touch and he felt himself start to flush. Peter’s eyes flared red and the wolf put pressure on the hips until Stiles stumbled backwards and hit the wall. Peter leaned forward and ghosted his lips down Stiles’ neck, stopped at the collar bone. Stiles shivered again and couldn’t help the low moan that escaped as the alpha pressed a careful kiss against his neck. 

Hands tugged at his shirt. “Let’s take this off, sweetheart, I want to see you.” Feeling a low haze enveloping him, Stiles nodded and let Peter tug the shirt off. As soon as it was gone the alpha ran rough fingers over his torso. Peter smelled so much like alpha and want and desire that Stiles was sure he could get forever lost in it. He let his head thunk back against the wall as Peter crowded back into his space and began kissing up his neck. He tilted his head back which had the delightful effect of making Peter growl and (finally) fully press their bodies together. Feeling the hardness of Peter’s cock rub up against him, Stiles moaned again and started to try and tug Peter’s shirt off. 

“Not fair, take it off, alpha.” 

Peter growled again and bit down with blunt, human teeth on his neck. He wasn’t sure what the sound was that came out of his mouth at that but apparently it was the right kind because Peter’s low rumble got louder and the kisses on his neck and shoulder got more intense. Distantly he wondered if he’d be able to come just like this. He started pulling at Peter’s shirt more urgently now. 

“Alpha, please, I want to feel you.” 

Peter pulled back and practically ripped off his shirt before reaching out to grip Stiles by the ass and lift him up. He let out a strangled yelp as Peter bit down on the other side of his neck, he managed to wrap his legs around the alpha just as Peter ground their cocks together. 

“Oh shit, oh shit, Peter, please...alpha...Peter…” He wasn’t really aware of what else he was babbling, just intensely aware of the fire shooting through him and how wet he was getting and how his cock was leaking. Peter’s hands, tongue and teeth somehow seemed to be everywhere on him at once. He was dragged away from the wall and the next thing he knew was his back hitting something soft and Peter was climbing on top of him and pulling at his belt and pants. 

“Yes, oh gods, yes...alpha…” Stiles moaned, trying to help as best he could in the haze of want that was enveloping him. His fingers started scrambling at Peter’s pants as well and after a few moments they were both completed naked on the bed. Peter started to bite, lick and suck his way down Stiles’ body and he was pretty sure he let out a mewl and cry as the alpha got to his cock and took it all the way down. Crying out, Stiles bucked his hips up, only for Peter’s hands to grip them tight, holding them down. 

He tangled one hand in Peter’s air and gripped the bedspread helpless with the other. The heat and suction on his cock felt so good. He cried out, babbling again, as he scrambled against the pressure. It felt so good, every cell in his body was on fire and he couldn’t think of anything except, alpha, alpha, alpha. 

Just as the pressure was about to burst, Peter pulled off with an obscene pop and prowled up his body again to capture his mouth in a kiss. What a kiss it was, Stiles moaned, opening his mouth for the alpha to plunder into his. Licking and sucking on his tongue and lips, Peter experately gave him the best kiss of his life. Pulling back, Stiles whined at the loss only for Peter to give him a wicked grin. 

“Shhh...sweetheart, I’ll give you what you want. Just need to get something.” Peter reached over to pull out a bottle of lube from a bag on the bedside table. 

“Shit, yes.” Stiles said, pulling Peter back to him for another kiss. Peter growled into his mouth but let Stiles take control for the moment. Stiles pulled back and let his head hit the bed again as he heard the cap pop on the lube. Fingers pried at his vulva and let out a shout as Peter thumbed over his clit. Lubed fingers pressed into him as the rubbing of his clit built up speed. He was sure he’d never been so wet in his life as he was in this moment. His orgasm was steadily building and he threw back his head as one ripped through him. Gasping, his body shuddered as he came back into awareness to feel Peter slip another finger into his vagina steadily pressing him open. His cock was still hard and leaking but he could feel another vaginal orgasm building up already. 

“Peter…” he moaned out. 

“Oh sweetheart, you are too perfect.” The alpha licked over the head of his cock. “Such beautiful noises and so very responsive.” Three fingers pressed into him now and he gasped as Peter found his g-spot and started gently swirling fingers around it. “You are so beautiful, my omega, we are going to have so much fun together. I can’t wait to feel you clench around my cock.” 

“Peter...alpha...please…” Stiles shouted as Peter sucked at his cock head and flicked over his clit at the same time. Peter sucked him through it, swallowing his come and gently licking down his shaft until he was spasming at the stimulation. Pulling off the alpha gave him a wicked grin. 

“Nice and relaxed for me now, aren’t you beautiful, let’s see how many more orgasms I can wring out of you.” Slicking up his cock the alpha pulled Stiles legs around his hips and slowly pushed his way into his body. Stiles arched his back and whined at the feeling. It felt so good and perfect and full. Peter pulled out and in slowly at first before building up speed to Stiles’ insistent cries. 

“Faster, harder, alpha, I can take it...please Peter, harder…” 

With a growl and a flashing of red eyed Peter’s thrusts picked up to an almost brutal intensity that seemed to drive all the breath out of his body. His eyes were rolled back and he gripped the headboard behind him just for something to try and ground him. It felt like he was flying apart as another orgasm ripped its way through him and another. Peter came with almost a howling roar and one last slam of his hips against Stiles. 

Groaning deeply, the alpha managed to turn Stiles around to press deeply in as the knot started to form. Gasping, Stiles ground into it, bringing out another sharp growl from the alpha. He felt Peter’s teeth on his shoulder and a sharp sting as the wolf teeth bit down. One last orgasm made him cry out with a shout before he sank down deep in a haze of pleasure. Peter’s knot was still firmly inside of him. Strong arms were wrapped around his middle and Peter’s tongue was lapping at the bite. With a last moan, Stiles let himself slip off into unconsciousness. His last awareness was of Peter crooning to him softly. 

“There you go, that’s it, my good omega. I’ve got you, my sweet boy.”


	3. Chapter 3

Watching his new mate sleep while knotted into him was making Peter feel all sorts of things he never thought he would feel. The possessive urges he had when he saw the casual touching between Stiles and that beta werewolf, the softness he normally doesn’t give during sex, and this intense need to make Stiles love him are all things that Peter had given up on finding. Oh, he knew that if he took one of those young omegas just out of their boarding school he’d have to be gentle with them. But with Stiles, he can be both gentle and hard, when the boy had pleaded with him to go faster and harder Peter had almost come just from that. 

Gently running fingers down his mate’s arm he pressed another kiss to the quickly healing bite mark that sat at the junction of shoulder and neck. The energy he had felt building up in Stiles during sex had been amazing. Now, watching the wound heal into a perfect scar before his eyes he wondered just how powerful was this boy. Most omegas had been told so many times that their magic is useless for nothing other than simple party tricks and illusions. But Stiles...he wondered how far Stiles has pushed his magic and where that path will lead. 

All questions to answer later he thinks as he grinds his knot up into his mate. The little mewl of pleasure that Stiles lets out in his sleep brings a spark of delight up in him. This boy is so perfect for him. Feeling his knot start to go down, he pushes his face into the back of Stiles’ neck and lets his own eyes drift shut. Sinking deep into the scent of his mate he drifted slowly off to sleep. 

He woke up to Stiles trying to wriggle out of his hold. He gave a sharp growl and possessively tried to hold on tighter. A huff was the response to this. “Some on, growlywolf, I am all gross and sticky and really want to shower before dinner. Come on alpha man, let go.” He just rumbled and tugged Stiles harder against him. It hadn’t been nearly long enough in his mind to justify letting go of his mate. He just wanted to stay here and luxuriate a bit longer. 

He heard a deep sigh and a muttered swear word as the boy relaxed back into him. Feeling pleased with himself, he started to relax as well before slowly drifting away back into sleep. Stiles wriggled around again, drawing him back into wakefulness. About to growl, he stopped when he realized his mate is just moving so they are front to front. He sighed contentedly but jerked awake when a hand started rubbing against his cock. Cool lips tickle his neck and a slight pinching feel as the boy’s blunt teeth dig into the flesh on his shoulder. Moaning, he felt blood rushing south despite himself and he began to harden. Stiles bit down harder and fingered over the slit on his cock drawing out another low moan. 

“That’s it, alpha, come on alpha, let me make you feel good.” 

How is he supposed to say no to that? Still feeling half asleep he allowed his mate to roll him over on his back and watched Stiles through half lidded eyes. He got a wicked looking grin as Stiles slipped down his body to lick over the tip of his cock. The blow job he gets is slow and heady. His arousal builds up in bits and pieces. He is amazed at how good Stiles is at this. Rolling tongue and sucking lips build him up to climax quicker than he thought would happen. He comes with a harsh groan and pumps into Stiles’ mouth. The boy looks amazing, amber eyes gazing up at him while swallowing his load. Stiles eased him through the aftershocks and slowly pulled off. 

Sitting up then, his mate eyed him critically before gripping his own cock and pumping himself off quickly. In only a matter of moments he throws back his head in pleasure and releases all over Peter’s stomach. Peter felt himself start to harden again at the sight. Stiles grinned down at him possessively while rubbing his come into his skin. Fully awake now and growling, Peter lunged up but wasn’t fast enough and Stiles danced away and towards the bathroom. 

“Gotta shower now, can’t show up to dinner looking like this, can we?” The boy had the audacity to wink at him before slamming the bathroom door shut. Peter hears the click of the lock and just sits in shock for a moment before laughing and flopping back down on the bed. Yes, Stiles is perfect for him and will definitely keep him guessing. 

Dinner is a series of fascinating revelations. Stiles focused on Marin at first, querying her about what is traditionally expected of an omega mate for such a high profile figure as Peter and then asking what he can get away with in behavior. Peter relaxed at this and turned his attention to Deucalion for planning a strategy. Deucalion had chosen a high end restaurant that had private alcoves with spell work woven around them to keep out eavesdroppers. 

As they left the restaurant, Deucalion told Peter to take his mate somewhere and lay low until the next council meeting in a month. Peter knew this was good advice, he had no desire to have to deal with Talia trying to undermine his claim on Stiles. They will need to find a druid to finish the claiming process and make it official in that way. A contract covers the legalities but a druid will cement the magical side of a werewolf alpha mate bond. He is still thinking about this as they walk back into the hotel room so he hadn’t noticed how quiet Stiles had gotten. 

“So, I, uh…” He turned to look at Stiles and raised an eyebrow, wondering what on earth would make the normally outspoken boy so nervous. 

“Yes?” 

“I know a druid, who could perform the rites. It’s not someone fancy with all the special degrees but he’s official so you wouldn’t have to worry about someone protesting about it. He’s back in Beacon Hills though but he’d probably travel except I was kind of thinking it would be good to do it at home because it’s going to be your land anyways and mine, well, yours, I know it’s not really mine ‘cause you’re the alpha and --” 

Feeling amused, Peter placed his hands on Stiles’ shoulders. “Stiles, breathe. Yes, I agree we should do it in Beacon County at least, if not in the town proper. I would be delighted to use this druid you know. I am surprised as I didn’t think Deaton had sent any apprentices to the town.” 

Stiles made a face. “Yeah, no he hasn’t. If you want any alpha Talia approved business done you still have to wait for Deaton to make one of his quarterly visits. But there are a few now who went away to one of the smaller schools to get the training and do all the small stuff. Boyd’s one of them, we went to high school together, actually.” 

“Interesting…” The more Peter heard about Beacon Hills the more he is starting to realize that it really hasn’t been managed well. He had never given much thought before to how the humans managed in werewolf territories that the pack alpha didn’t live in. The laws are different in them or humans than in non pack areas. Technically everyone in Beacon county is part of Talia’s pack in the eyes of the law. This comes with certain things that need alpha approval or you need to use the official druid emissary for. Things like buying and selling land, approvals for city budgets and a few other things. Human and omega matings also needed to be given a blessing by a druid since omegas had a higher status for werewolves than other humans. 

Thankfully though, werewolf mating is considered sacred and different from human marriages. Even a beta wolf did not need to ask permission to give a mating bite. It would, however, be considered very bad form to use a druid not in the pack to formalize the union. If you used a different druid though, most alphas would take that as a declaration that the beta no longer wished to be part of their pack. 

For an alpha like himself he could use any druid he wanted as he was considered his own pack head. He sighed deeply and leaned in to scent Stiles’ neck. Pack laws were complicated and while he normally loved picking them apart, today he just wanted to enjoy his mate some more.

“Peter?” 

“Hmmm…” Stiles just smelled so good. 

“Are you planning for us to leave tomorrow? I just need to let Lydia know if you are because she has this epic shopping trip planned and if I don’t go she’s probably just going to go anyways and then who the hell knows what she’ll get me.” 

Peter sighed and pulled back a little but still kept his hands on Stiles’ waist. “I have a few more things to get sorted out here so we will most likely not be able to leave until evening. You drove here, correct?” 

“Yup, and before you say anything I am not leaving my baby here or letting anyone else drive it.” 

He narrowed his eyes at his mate. “Stiles, that thing is a rolling death trap and it makes so much noise.” 

“Nope. Figure it out alpha, not leaving it.” 

Shoving his face back into his mate’s neck, he grumbled. “The things I do for my mate.” 

Arms wrapped around his shoulders his mate’s lean body pressed against him tightly. Stiles leaned forward and gripped the lobe of his ear between blunt teeth, Peter could feel the hint of tongue teasing at the skin and he barely stifled a moan as desire flooded through him. “I can think of other things you can do for me alpha…” 

With a deep growl he surged forward and plastered Stiles against the wall, biting and sucking at the long pale neck. The boy shuddered and gasped. Peter could smell the arousal and want pouring of him. A flare of possessive need flooded through him and he pulled viscously at Stiles’ jeans, dragging them off roughly. 

“Alpha…” Stiles moaned and arched up as he slid down the taunt body in front of him. Biting, licking, and sucking he pulled off the pants completely and started to suck bruises into the thighs and hips of his mate. The boy smelled heavenly and Peter could feel the wetness start to form as he pushed fingers up into Stiles’ vulva. Growling, he hoisted the boy up and directed the legs around his shoulders and neck so he could lick into the delicious opening there. Stiles bucked up and shouted, clinging to Peter’s hair while moaning and writhing as he pulled an orgasm out of his mate. 

Surging upward, he caught Stiles up in his arms to turn around and toss him on the bed. Grabbing the bottle of lube he quickly got it on his hard cock and hefted Stiles’s hips up so he could thrust his way in. Both of them moaned deeply as he bottomed out in one smooth push. Stiles scrabbled for purchase on the bed and Peter could smell another orgasm looming. Stiles clenched around his cock and he had to fight not to come right then. Gripping Stiles’ own cock in his hand to begin to play with the head he started almost lazily thrusting in and out. 

“Shit, alpha, Peter...holy shit…” Peter never would have guessed that he would love hearing such sweet babblings coming out of his mate. He growled and picked up the pace while rubbing faster on Stiles’ cock. His mate came with a shout and he let go of the cock to grip the hips tight and started to truly pound in and out. He came not moments later, already feeling his knot forming. 

Wanting to see Stiles’ face as the knot formed, he stayed where he was and just kept grinding the knot in farther. He pulled out two more orgasms from Stiles before the knot was fully locked in place. Stiles was completely limp and spent now, just a puddle underneath him. Groaning, Peter pulled him up to his chest and laid down on his back with Stiles head pillowed on his neck. He just stayed there, running soothing hands up and down the beautiful body on top of him. 

By the time his knot went down, Stiles was already asleep so he slipped out and cleaned them both up with a washcloth. Once he was finished, he shifted them both under the covers and curled up against his mate’s back. 

In the morning, they were both woken up by Lydia. Peter enjoyed watching the frantic yelping and scrambling as Stiles shouted obscenities at the other omega while diving into the shower. Peter just stayed in bed, leaning against the headboard with the sheets pooling around his hips. Lydia gave him an approving once over and primly sat down on the couch. 

“So, may I ask what you do when you aren’t trying to run Stiles’ life?” Peter threw out the question idly as if he didn’t care to know the answer. He did want to see how she would react to the accusation. 

Lydia just leveled him with a knowing look. “I’m getting my masters in theoretical mathematics and nobody runs Stiles’ life but Stiles. I only get a say in the parts he doesn’t truly care about what happens in them. I’m sure you’ll figure those out soon and we can have a merry war over who gets which one.” 

Peter chuckled and stretched. “You are very sure of yourself.” 

She rolled her eyes. “For an omega you mean.” 

“You can’t exactly blame me for my opinions when all the omegas I see are brought up in those boarding schools.” 

“Excuse you, I believe I just met the mate of your best friend.” 

“I always thought Marin was an outlier.” At her disbelieving look, he shrugged. 

Finally, she snorted and shook her head. “Gods...you werewolves really do just live in your own little reality, not paying attention to us lowly humans. You’d think a species that can’t produce any of their own omegas biologically would care more to find out about the species that their favorite mates come from.” 

“Most wolves don’t see it that way. Wolves have an instinctive need to protect omegas which often turns into an urge to mate with them. That having a bond with an omega can stabilize any wolf makes it hard for us to let them live among humans at all.” 

He trailed off considering her words. Things had gotten better with this in the last couple hundred years as the humans started pressing for more rights over the fate of their children. For a long time if an omega was found, they were taken from their family and raised in the nearest pack. It was such a strange quirk of fate, omegas. Scientists still didn’t know exactly what made some humans omegas. They did know that all of them had werewolf genes somewhere in their ancestry. Omegas had slightly better senses than normal humans but nowhere near the level of a werewolf. A mated omega with a strong enough bond with their alpha would often gradually get strengthened senses and healing. 

Then there was the magic. This is what Peter and a lot of werewolves believed truly was the last piece that created some humans to be omegas. The old legends had tales of when wolves and humans fought constantly, killing each other over and over again. But then a powerful human mage and an alpha werewolf fell in love. They wanted the fighting between their peoples to stop so they created a spell to create the omega. This way there would always be a bridge between the two species. Peter didn’t know if this was true or not, but it was a fascinating thing to think about. 

Stiles came out of the bathroom by then, dressed in...Peter just stared at the horrific combination of graphic t-shirt and flannel plaid. Who wore plaid like this? He turned to look at Lydia who was giving him an amused look. He was suddenly completely grateful to the redheaded omega. She was saving him from having to argue clothing choices with his new mate. 

“What?” Stiles was looking back and forth between them, eyes narrowed. 

Lydia just beamed at her friend. “Peter and I were just having a moment, darling, nothing to worry your pretty little head about. Come along now, shopping waits for no omega.” 

Stiles rolled his eyes but followed her out with no more complaining. Once they had left he pulled out his computer and started catching up on all the reports and news he had been sent. He had let his tiny pack know about the mating yesterday morning before Stiles had come to finish the contract signing and also handed out assignments. He checked on Braedon’s report first as she had been who he had sent to Beacon Hills to gather information from there. It didn’t have much on it yet, she had confirmed Noah Stilinski’s death and the custody issues. She said everyone thought she was from Talia and it was hard to get information because of that. He smirked to himself before replying that she should try and find a druid named Boyd and tell him that she was part of Peter’s pack. He made a mental note to ask Stiles who else the boy trusted in the town. 

Moving on, he pulled up Jennifer’s email. She was the only human in his pack and a witch. He was a little terrified for her and Lydia to meet, he had a feeling the two redheads would be the death of him if they joined forces. However Jennifer, as a registered human nurse, was the best choice to get into the omega school that Miriam was at. Her report was also fairly short, she had been accepted as the school was in desperate need of more nurses. She hadn’t seen Miriam yet but was sure she’d be able to today. 

Derek’s report is...not there. Sighing deeply and wondering once again how his nephew has become such a sought out lawyer when the boy practically refused to use technology, he just called him. Thankfully, he picked up on the second ring. 

“I don’t know anything yet.” 

“Nice to hear your voice too, Derek.” A growl was the response to this. “Derek…” 

“I told you, I don’t know anything yet. Mom used a human law firm instead of our firm so I had to go reach out to the Yukimura’s and ask them to look into it from the human side. That other beta you mentioned, Whittemore, his father is the DA in Beacon County. You should ask him, he won’t talk to me but maybe he’ll talk to you since you’ve mated with Stiles. Also, Peter, seriously, why did it have to be Stiles?” 

The last sentence was almost a whine. Peter blinked, he hadn’t considered that Derek would have met Stiles when Talia sent him and Laura in to clean up after the rogue alpha. Interesting...he grinned sharply, he could only imagine the boy’s reactions to his nephew. He couldn’t wait to see them together in person. 

“Why Derek, do you have something to tell me about my mate?” 

A deep sigh sounded through the phone. “He was Scott’s best friend, actually, the reason Scott was out in the preserve at all was because of Stiles. He...he’s the most obnoxious human I’ve ever met and well, shit, we started off...not on the best foot.” 

“Let me guess, you made some comment about proper omega behavior and he ripped you to verbal shreds?” 

“Yes...Laura thought it was hilarious but kept treating him like a feral pet the whole time we were there and you can imagine how well he reacted to that.” Derek paused while Peter took a moment to wish someone had recorded all of this for him to see. “Did you know that Jackson got bitten during the time as well?” This made Peter sit up and frown. 

“I did not. Stiles only referenced Scott.” 

“Whittemore and two others. Erica and Isaac. Stiles was the one who found out about all of them and gathered them up into this little faux pack thing. It happened all before Laura and I even got there so we showed up and Stiles basically set himself up as an alpha of this pack of new betas. It was crazy, Peter, because it was working. He had them all focused and mostly stable and they all wanted nothing to do with us.” 

“What changed with Scott?” Peter had so many things he needed to talk with Stiles about now, he was wondering where he would even start. 

“That’s complicated and you should probably ask Stiles. The falling out wasn’t good or pretty...and then when Stiles went to the news to try and out mom, it only got nastier. She came down and tried to strongarm all of them into leaving Beacon Hills to join her pack and Scott was the only one who went. David Whittemore, Jackson’s father, fought her legally on it and won. He got them all set up with Satomi in Redding as their alpha.” 

“That’s impressive, I wonder why he didn’t help Stiles with Miriam.” 

“I don’t know, maybe mom had something else to hold over him. Or maybe she just straight up bribed the judge. I think Whittemore threatened to have all three of the other betas tell their story to the news if she didn’t give in. He wouldn’t have had that threat with Stiles.” 

Peter asked a few more questions but mostly let it go after that. He would have to ask Stiles but also this made things more complicated in regards to his mating and Miriam. He needed to find out how invested Talia was in actually keeping Miriam away from his mate. If it had just been a passing moment of spite it might not be hard for him to get custody. If she was really digging her teeth into it then this might be a long battle. 

Sighing deeply he pulled himself out of bed to shower and get dressed. He knew this meant a meeting and some careful question asking. He normally enjoyed these games with Talia but was feeling so much more invested in this one and the stakes seemed so much higher. He had Stiles and that wouldn’t go away but if he couldn’t fulfil the agreement to get Miriam...he shook his head to dispel these thoughts. He would win this, he was just as good at this game as Talia if not better. 

Deciding to not give Talia time to prepare for a meeting as he wasn’t sure what she had heard or not about Stiles and him. While he had not been flaunting the relationship, it had also not been particularly well hidden. Talia had a suite of rooms in another hotel a few blocks over. As the head alpha of the western coast she kept rooms in all the major cities for convenience sake. Bracing himself, he walked in, feeling a bit like he was heading to his doom. 

His sister and niece, Laura, were sitting at the breakfast table with the plethora of children that belonged to Laura. Laura’s wife, an omega named Melanie, was also present. All three women looked at him in surprise as he came in. 

“Peter, did I know you were coming?” Talia asked, looking over at her assistant who was valiantly trying to defend his computer against the sticky fingers of a two year old. The assistant flushed and stuttered a bit. Peter rolled his eyes. Honestly, all these assistants of Talia were the same. Young beta wolves of families who were trying to toadie up to the Hale pack. None of them were actually good at anything. 

“You did not, so your puppy can stop looking like he’s about to face the firing squad.” Ignoring the look of reproval he got for that comment, he scooped up the three year old so he could sit down. Said three year old, squeaked in approval and let out tiny claws to grip at his shirt. 

“Max, we’ve talked about this. Claws in.” Laura said from across the table. The cub growled a bit but retracted them. Talia was giving him a suspicious look still. Not that he blamed her, ever since he’d become an alpha he’d avoided most of the adults in the family. Laura’s kids however were all giving him adoring looks. Feeling incredibly smug, he reached over to mess with the five year old’s hair. She giggled and beamed at him. 

“Why are you here Peter?” 

He gave her his best hurt look. “I can’t come visit my family? See my great niblings?” 

Laura rolled her eyes. “You don’t just come visit us or the kids Peter.” 

He gave her a mild look and flicked his eyes to Melanie for a brief moment. She colored and looked down. Interesting, it looked as if she had not mentioned his regular visits to the kids to her wife. 

“Well, maybe I want to change that. I did save their lives a few months back.” 

Laura’s lips thinned. “Mel, why don’t you take the kids to get ready for the day?” Melanie murmured agreement and began to bustle the kids down the hall. They went with only mild complaining but all insisted on giving him a hug before they left. He made himself a mental note that as soon as everything was settled with Stiles to try and bring his mate over to meet Melanie. He had a feeling Laura’s wife would appreciate the possible ally. As soon as they were out of sight, Talia began to speak. 

“Peter, we don’t want to remind the kids about their trauma.” 

“It’s not going to magically not have happened, Talia, it’s better for them to know they were rescued and are safe now.” 

“This can’t be truly why you are here.” His sister sounded exasperated now. He let himself sigh and look away. 

“All right, fair enough. I want to know more about that delicious omega you were so furious at the other night.” He stretched and smirked at them both. Laura looked at her mother in confusion. 

“Omega?” 

Talia’s lips were a thin line. “What did he tell you?” 

“Oh this and that, really Talia, I can’t believe you kept such a scrumptious thing away from me all this time. You know where my interests tend to lie. You’re the one on me about mating and yet you keep away such --” 

“He’s not an acceptable mate for you or any alpha.” She cut in, annoyance showing clearly on her face. Laura just looked more confused. 

“Who are you talking about? Mom?” 

“Nobody. Just a nuisance that thought he could get away with party crashing.” 

Peter leaned back into his chair. “He had an invite.” 

If anything, Talia’s lips got thinner. “There is a standard invite sent every year to the elected officials of Beacon County if they have any children that are omegas that they are welcome to attend. Somehow it got overlooked and one was still sent this year even though…” She trailed off awkwardly. 

“The sheriff is dead?” Peter said it idly, flicking imaginary lint away from his shirt cuff. Laura’s eyes lit up. 

“Are you talking about Stiles? Oh my god, you are. Seriously, he showed up at the party the other night? That is the last place I would have never expected to find him at with how much he hated all traditional werewolf things.” 

Talia glowered at him now. “Yes. Well. I believe his only goal was to attempt to humiliate me as somehow the Raeken’s left hand found out that Stiles is from Beacon County and I had to spend all day yesterday pacifying the little toadying sycophant.” 

Peter laughed, “Why sister, that’s the first time I think you’ve actually described one of your little under pack leaders accurately.” 

Laura frowned. “Mom, you shouldn’t need to suck up to them. They are such a tiny pack and so below us in standing. They don’t even have land to call their own which is why they have to stay in your good graces and not the other way around.” 

“Some of the council has been making noises that I have too much power and I need to give away some of my land to these upstart packs. I don’t want to give Raeken any ideas that he could use any slight to leverage against me.” Talia had been clenching the tablecloth and now tried to smooth out the wrinkles. She turned to Peter with a glare. “So leave Stiles alone. It’s better for all of us if he disappears entirely and out of any potential notice. His mother’s family has been in Beacon County as long as we have and we don’t want him to mate with any alpha that might try to use the connection to force us to give up what is ours.” 

Peter gave her a considerating look. She was truly agitated about this, he wondered if he could use it to his advantage. Slowly, as if the idea was just coming to him, he began to speak. “Or...I could mate him. No. Hear me out. I’m a Hale, in your pack and an alpha. His main complaint the other night was about his sister and his desire to be reunited with her. I assume you had her sent to a boarding school for the same reason you would be worried about him mating outside your control. So we remove both problems. I mate with Stiles, gain custody of his sister and settle them both somewhere remote and out of the way. All the problems solved.” 

Talia’s face was a picture of various emotions. It had started outraged then shifted to annoyance but had finally settled on thoughtful consideration. “That might just work...you’d have to do it all yourself. Especially the sister. In case anyone goes sniffing around that I already have too many fingerprints on it so we can’t risk any of the human rights people getting wind of it.” 

“Mom, you can’t be serious. That boy is ridiculous.” 

“Shush, Laura, your uncle is correct, this would work. I get two annoyances taken care of and I don’t have to deal with any obnoxious human father of whatever poor omega girl Peter inevitably marries and ignores. Yes. Do it but I don’t want to hear a word about it.” 

Peter grinned. “Yes, alpha, I promise, you won’t hear a single word. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have an omega to find.” 

As he walked out and into the street he could help but grin again. This had gone even better than he could have hoped for. He would get what he wanted and Talia wouldn’t even be able to complain because she had endorsed it. Checking his phone, his grin got wider. Stiles and Lydia had finished their shopping and were on their way back to his rooms. With any luck, he and his new mate would be out of the city and headed somewhere remote by the evening. He loved it when a plan came together.


	4. Chapter 4

Stiles could probably only tell someone about a fourth of the things that were in the shopping bags that Lydia had both him and Jackson hauling back to Peter’s hotel room. He was worn out and kind of just wanted to go back to sleep. All the emotional energy of the past couple of days on top of this shopping trip had left him completely exhausted. He wished he could have a moment to breath and think. He also wanted to get fucked by Peter again and was kind of hopeful that the alpha won’t be back yet so he could actually get rest before the horny part of himself took over again. 

Lydia pulled him aside before they went up the elevator. “Stiles, you know we have your back right?” 

As he looked at her, he had to blink back tears. “I know. I don’t deserve my friends…” 

She rolled her eyes and hugged him. “Shut up Stiles.” 

When she finished the hug, Jackson pulled him into a tight embrace as well. “If he hurts you or doesn’t follow through with Miriam, call us immediately.” 

They brought him upstairs but didn’t linger. Peter returned a few moments after they had left. Before he could gather any coherent thoughts or questions together, the alpha pulled him into a heated kiss. He moaned as Peter bit at his lips and licked into his mouth. The way the alpha made him feel all shivery and hazy had to be a crime. It just wasn’t fair. Before they could take it too far, Peter pulled back and smirked at the whine Stiles made. 

“I know, pet, I know. Don’t worry I have plenty of plans for you and your body. But I want us to be on the road by dinner and I have new information to give you. I spoke to Talia this afternoon…” 

His head was swimming by the time Peter finished the story. He stared at his mate who was giving him a smug look and slowly started to grin back. “That’s...wow, Peter, that’s amazing. You are incredible.” He stopped and just started to laugh. “I cannot fucking wait to see the look on her face when she figures it all out. Holy shit, you are so evil. I love it.” 

Peter preened under the attention but soon he got up, pulling Stiles with him. “Come on, pack up. We will just put these new bags in the car as is but the rest of your stuff needs to be packed. I also need to call my lawyer and pack member about your sister.” 

It didn’t take him long to get packed and ready to go. Soon he was in the jeep and on the road. Peter followed in his own car as the wolf refused to have their only option of transport be that ‘death trap’. Stiles had glared and promised retribution on behalf of his baby. Peter just rolled his eyes and moved on. He spent the first couple hours of driving making a plan for revenge. 

Peter made them stop at a hotel at around ten pm. It was a nice room, not as opulent as the last one, but he was kind of glad to see that Peter isn’t always completely extravagant. They just fell asleep after some heated kissing, both too tired to stay awake for more. Peter made him get up and get going by seven. It was a long day to get all the way down into Beacon County. Peter led him off to a remote section of the large Trinity Lake to a tucked away home. 

“You call this a cabin??” Was the first thing he said when he got out of the car gaping at the ridiculous house in front of them. 

“Please, Talia would call this a shack.” 

“Shit, dude, it’s like four times bigger than the house I grew up in!” 

A hand smacked the back of his head. He turned to the side to glare only for Peter to throw him up and over the alpha’s shoulder. He screeched and tried to wriggle free but the hold Peter has on him in firm and he gave up before Peter even got to the front door. As they entered, Peter slapped his ass. “Don’t call me dude.” 

“Fine...fine…” He grumbled. Peter dropped him on an oversized couch and smirked down at him. He was about to make a lewd comment when a thump sound came from another part of the room. Peter looked up and smiled. 

“Nephew, perfect timing, you can bring our things in from the cars.” 

A snort as a familiar voice spoke out. “Get your own shit.” 

Full of deja-vu he sat up and stared. “Derek?” 

Derek gave him a very familiar grouchy look. “Unfortunately. Yes, it’s me. Yay.” Derek said in a complete deadpan before moving forward to hug Peter. Stiles watched with narrowed eyes as Peter scented the beta wolf. 

“Uh, so what?” 

Peter finally turned back to him and said, “Derek is in my pack.” 

“Woah, what, really? Does your mom know?” A delighted idea came through and he tacked on eagerly. “Does Laura know??” 

Derek glowered at him. He ignored the beta as he had become completely immune to Derek glowers after the year that shall not be spoken of. Peter chuckled. “No, neither Talia or Laura knows yet. It just showcases how we were not meant to have such large packs. There is no way to fully be connected to all your pack members.” 

“Does this mean that Derek has to be nice to me now? Because I’m the alpha’s mate? Oh sweet times are a coming sourwolf.” 

Derek sighed as if life was against him while Stiles cackled and rubbed his hands together. Peter just looked amused. “The two of you are responsible for sorting yourselves out. I certainly will not make any pack members be nice to people who aren’t nice to them.” 

Stiles made a face and dramatically threw himself down on the couch. “Fiiiinee....there go my plans to be the evil omega mate…” 

Peter chuckled before pulling him up and off the couch. “You can work on those plans and if you can figure out how to do it subtly enough no one notices then it’s fine by me. Now, we have things to bring in from my car and your wreck that you call a car.” 

He grumbled a bit, just for show, but followed Peter out to the cars to bring in their things. Derek did come out and help as well so Stiles laid off the teasing for the moment. As much as he loved poking the grumpy beta’s buttons, he also didn’t want to completely alienate the new packmate. He couldn’t help feeling a little concerned. There was so much history with Derek from that year of hell that had lost him so much. He managed to push this all down for the moment as they settled into the cabin (mansion). 

Peter had a master suite on the second floor. It had a huge bathroom with a whirlpool tub and large shower. There was a private balcony that overlooked the lake and the room itself was huge with a ginormous walk-in closet. Stiles mostly just dumped his bags with all the clothes in a pile in one corner that Peter gave narrow eyes at but didn’t say anything about. Derek had apparently made food for them which tasted amazing. 

“Wow, sourwolf, you’ve been holding out on my me.” 

“Shut up Stiles.” 

“Aw, I always knew you loved me.” 

After dinner he managed to shower before he collapsed into the amazing bed and fell asleep right away. He woke up briefly when Peter slid in and wrapped warm limbs around him. He rolled over to nuzzle into his mate’s chest and fell back asleep deeply content. 

He rolled himself out of bed earlier than normal and managed to wriggle his way out of Peter’s octopus hold without waking up the wolf. Feeling pleased with himself he padded his way into the kitchen to begin familiarizing himself with the layout and what food was in it. Finding all the ingredients for chocolate chip scones he pulled them out and began to put the stuff together. Baking always helped him relax and let go of anxieties. He had to concentrate to bake but because there was constant movement he was able to focus on it and just it. 

He had the first batch in the oven when Peter came into the kitchen to give him a raised eyebrow. He just shrugged and kept going. Peter slipped up to his side and reeled him in for a kiss. When he pulled away to refocus on his scone forming, Peter sighed and nuzzled into his neck.

“I thought you eschewed all traditional omega behaviors.” Peter said into his neck. 

“Hey, I bake because I like to bake not because it’s an omega thing to do. I can cook too but that was more because I had to or we’d have eaten nothing but mac and cheese and hotdogs after our mom died. Miri needed a better diet so I figured out how to cook.” 

Peter pressed a gentle kiss into his neck before backing away to move to start the coffee pot. Stiles watched him go realizing he had gotten tense at the question. He tried to force himself to relax as the oven beeped signaling that the scones were finished. He got the next tray in and turned back to where Peter was leaning against the counter. The alpha was studying him with a strange expression on. Stiles tried to force himself not to bristle at it but wasn’t very successful. 

“What?” He asked, hunching his shoulders up in slight defense. 

“You are a completely fascinating creature. I’m trying to put all the pieces together, that’s all.” 

He frowned, feeling irritated by the comparison. “I’m not an it, or thing for you to puzzle your way through and then suddenly you know everything you need to know about me. I’m a complex human being like we all are.” 

Peter sighed and moved across the kitchen towards him. Bringing hands up, the alpha ran them lightly down his arms and squeezed gently at his elbows. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way but I am realizing I need to be more careful how I word things. I do see you more than just a fascinating puzzle. I do delight in puzzles and in contradictions but I have no desire to believe I can completely figure you out. That would just be too boring.” 

Stiles scoffed but let Peter tug him closer until he bumped up into the wolf. Peter’s hands moved to his waist and started gently caressing up and under his shirt all while the wolf leaned forward to nibble on his ear. The room was suddenly way too warm and he gasped and squirmed as the nibble turned into a sharp nip on the side of his neck. Peter chuckled and pressed backwards until he hit the edge of the counter. One of Peter’s hands moved to grip his ass and the other moved up to play with his nipples. He moaned and bucked forward while Peter started nipping down his neck. 

“Peter…” He said, surprised at how wrecked he already sounded. He could feel himself getting wet and arousal was making him feel desperate. Peter reached the base of his throat just as the hand behind him dragged up his back. Blunt fingernails scratched at his skin and he threw his head back to reveal more of his throat. “Alpha…Peter...please…” He moaned. 

Peter stilled for a moment while rumbling deep inside. “Do you have any idea of what calling me that does to me?” 

Stiles just moaned again and tried to press himself closer to Peter. “Just need you, alpha, need you inside me.” 

“Fuck.” Peter roughly scooped him half up in the air and Stiles eagerly threw his legs around the alpha’s hips. He brought up his own hands and pulled Peter’s head back to eagerly kiss the wolf again. They stumbled out of the kitchen, pausing only for Peter to grab the jar of coconut oil on the counter. They only barely made it out of the kitchen before Stiles found himself on the floor with Peter caging him in. 

He dragged his fingers through Peter’s hair tugging the strands. “Come on, alpha, hurry up and fuck me. Scones are gonna be done soon.” 

Peter snarled, looking down on him with shining red eyes. “If you can still think about your scones then I haven’t gotten you nearly begging enough.” 

“I think you’re just underestimating how much I care about my scones.” Stiles said, enjoying the way the words made Peter growl. The wolf roughly flipped him over and he had to scramble to get his arms underneath him as his pants were practically ripped off. “Shit. Fuck.” He gasped out as two fingers smeared with coconut oil were thrust into his opening. Peter hauled him to his knees with one arm while the kept thrusting fingers in with the thumb finding and rubbing his clit. He let out a keening cry as he was thrown into an orgasm. He barely had time to recover before Peter’s cock was nudging at the opening. 

At his whining cry from the smooth thrust of the cock Peter leaned over him and said, “That’s it, little omega, you’re all mine now. Just made for me. Made for my cock.” The wolf dragged his hips and legs up to thrust in deeper. Now, only his elbows were touching the ground and he felt another orgasm building up, making his insides clench. Peter moaned and began to thrust in and out almost teasingly slow. Stiles tried to push back harder but couldn’t get a good enough grip to maintain any sort of control. 

“I thought. You were -- Shit.” He managed to get out as Peter’s thrusts got stronger. “Fuck, shit, shit…” Peter slammed in harder now and he felt a haze of pleasure as he was fucked through his second orgasm into a third. He was just moaning and writhing now, muttering frantic pleas for Peter to go faster and harder. With a final slam of hips against flesh, Peter came with a half howl making Stiles come as well. The two of them collapsing on the floor together, panting. 

The oven beeped letting him know the scones were finished. He groaned and tried to tug himself off Peter only for the wolf to growl and hold him tighter. “I hate you…” He said even as he felt like he’d just had the bet sex in his life. 

“Don’t lie to a werewolf sweetheart.” Peter murmured, giving his ear a sharp nip. 

“Seriously Peter?!” Stiles yelped and tried to curl up to hide himself as Derek’s seriously pissed off face appeared above them. Peter, the bastard, just smirked up at his nephew. 

“Oh good, Derek, would you be a good packmate and take Stiles’ scones out of the oven please?” 

Stiles covered his face with his hands and hoped the floor would just swallow him up. Derek snarled and stomped off. “Fuck no. I’m going out for a run. When I get back you better have cleaned everything up.” 

Peter sighed deeply as the front door slammed shut. “He always was one for the over dramatic reaction.” 

“How did you not know he was coming into the room?? Aurghh...I won’t ever be able to look him in the face again.” Stiles wailed, reaching back to try and smack Peter. 

Peter chuckled and pulled out and got up. “Stay there darling, I’m going to get a rag to clean you up.” 

Stiles rolled onto his back and grumbled about stupid smug, alpha werewolves while trying not to think about how he was going to be able to ever talk to Derek again. After they got cleaned up, Stiles rescued the rather burnt scones. They ate the first batch while drinking coffee and talking idly about favorite books and movies. Derek did eventually come back into the house and Stiles could feel his cheeks heating up. The beta just gave them both a disgusted look but stole three scones before stomping off to shower. 

Peter had work to catch up on after breakfast so Stiles went back into the room and began to unpack all his clothes. It didn’t end up taking him very long so he went outside to lounge on the hammock and started updating his little pack on what had been happening. He knew Jackson and Lydia had passed on most of the details but he felt like he needed to give his own version of events. His phone, predictably, blew up immediately. He grinned as he just laid there and waited for the flood to slow down. 

_how was the sex??? OMG sex w/hot alpha so jelly_. 

_really? That’s what you ask first. For shame reyes._

_don’t be a twat whittemore, you just wish you was getting it as good as stiles_

_Excuse you? I don’t like what you are implying about my abilities to satisfy my husband._

_sorry highness but hot alpha trumps gorgeous redheaded queen_

_I think we’re getting a bit off topic._

_Thank you, Isaac, for being the voice of reason._

_You are welcome my Queen._

_don’t flirt with my wife lahey._

_don’t be a jackass, jackass. My scarf bro is just buttering her up ‘cause he wants that new fall jacket._

_like you don’t want the same jacket, Erica._

_totes do. But I don’t wipe asses to get what I want. Speaking off….Stiiillleeesss...sex! Tell us! Now!!!!_

_do that in a private chat, I had to put up with that smell in their hotel room, not gonna put up with details here._

_you could all just come up here and get the deets in person. This cabin is like the rich, snobby grandmother of Lydia’s family cabin._

_ooooo...I’m there like yesterday. My snookums is free too._

_still can’t believe he lets you call him that._

_don’t be bitter whittemore._

_youre delusional reyes_

_I’ll come with them. I may murder Erica though during the drive up._

_I’ll come help._

_just for that Isaac, I’ll make you hold my hat box the whole drive up._

_........... do I even want to know what you would put in a hatbox?_

_best not to ask such things Stilinski._

_probably the severed head of deaton._

_OMG_

_ROFL_

_holy shit guys, I snorted my orange juice._

_As delightful as that is to imagine, I do believe we have some pack business to discuss. Jackson and I will not be able to come out until the weekend. I would feel better about everything if two or all three of you could join Stiles soon. Peter didn’t give us any reason to doubt him but caution is still warranted with any Hales._

_I agree with Lydia. I actually have a couple appointments tomorrow I need to be here for but Erica and Isaac can go up today._

_pretty sure the ‘shit, you’re hot’ did that for you._

_shut up Jackson._

_make me Stiles._

_gtg packing atm_

_just not the hatbox please Erica._

_Erica???_

Isaac please stop her… 

😈

_Boyd please make them wait for you…_

_Sorry Stiles, even if I could I agree with Lydia that we need to get them up there with you_

Stiles looked up from texting to see Peter coming out onto the balcony with him. He grinned up at the alpha who settled in with him in the hammock. He snuggled up into the alpha and sighed contentedly. His phone made a few more buzzes but stopped soon after. “I thought you had work to do?” 

“I did, but I heard back from Jennifer and I wanted to come up and tell you the news.” 

Stiles sat up, or tried to, but the hammock pulled him back in so it ended up being more of an awkward roll where he ended up with his face squishing into Peter’s shoulder. Grumbling, he managed to pull his face up and glared at the chuckling alpha. “What news?” 

“She reports that Miriam seems well though distant. They are having a bit of trouble convincing her to eat but other than that everything seems fine. She’s been very quiet and submissive so no punishments seemed to have been handed out.” 

Stiles felt a bit of relief go through him. “Good, that’s good. Do you know how custody would go?” 

“I also talked with my lawyer briefly and he wants me to come up to the school. They insist on an interview with a social worker and the headmistress of the school. My lawyer is getting all the paperwork and character testimonies ready and he thinks it will all mostly be a formality. No one is going to deny a Hale the right to adopt an omega child that comes from the Hale territory.” 

“I know I should be relieved by that and I am but I’m also just frustrated in that would be all it took. It’s just setting up a lot of potential for abuse against omegas.” Stiles hid his face back in Peter’s shoulder. He really hated this system they were all a part of. He was making it work for him right now but what about all the other kids who got stuck in it and had no one to protect or speak for them before they got shoved into mating a random werewolf. 

Peter kissed his forehead. “I know sweetheart, I know. Derek was telling me that this is one of the biggest things the omega and human rights activists are fighting on right now. Deuc has been emailing me incessantly with articles and papers about these things as well. I have an idea he’s looking to get some new laws passed and is aiming for me to support him.” 

He looked up again, searching Peter’s gaze. “Would you do that? Support him?” 

Peter smiled at him, softly, “Yes, Stiles, I intend to.” 

Stiles just smiled back and wrapped himself more firmly against the alpha. He never thought he would enjoy this as much as he was. But there was something so wonderful about having the warmth and scent of his mate that calmed him like nothing ever had before. The last shitty four years seemed to be finally, maybe, getting better. This could be a new start for all of them. The gentle swaying of the hammock combined with Peter’s hand rubbing gently on his back soon caused him to drift off into sleep as he smiled contentedly.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo...lots of hand waving at legalities in adoption in this chapter. I also am not super pleased with how the stuff at the omega school came out but couldn't seem to make it flow smoother. 
> 
> I'll hopefully get the next chapter out sooner! All the pack members together and we get close to the council meeting. :)

Pulling up to the large iron gates of the ‘Western Omega Institute of Learning’ made Peter feel a bit like he had time traveled back to the 17th century. He half expected to see a butler answering the front door in a bowler hat. The place certainly was impressive looking. The building screamed age and wealth, from the chiseled stone pillars to the impeccably manicured lawns. He cast a glance at his lawyer who was eying the place like it was a snake about to attack. 

“Ever been to one of these places before?” He asked her, feeling genuinely curious. The Yukimura’s had recommended her as one of the best custody lawyers they had ever met. He knew she primarily moved in the human courts and from what it sounded like had rarely crossed over into werewolf ones. 

“No. My gods, is that an actual swan on the lawn?” 

Peter turned to look and had to stop himself from snickering. It was indeed a swan. The front doors opened to reveal two women coming down the steps to greet them. The lawyer’s face immediately smoothed over to complete professional. Peter was impressed, he’d been starting to get worried at her open expressions but now felt a little more confident. 

“Alpha Hale! So lovely to meet you. We are so pleased to have you visit our fine establishment today! I’m Headmistress Saxon but please call me Eileen. This is Doctor O’Riley, she is a social worker who is here to keep the best interests of the children in mind. Please, do come in!” 

Throwing on his best charming smile, Peter brought the offered hand up to his lips to give a brief kiss to the knuckles. The woman in front of him was all bubbly excitement. Dressed in soft pastel pink, she made him vaguely think of that awful teacher from the Harry Potter movie. He’d watched it the previous year with Cora and the niblings but had been only paying half his attention to it. 

The social worker was long and thin to the headmistress’ short and plump. She had also gone for more of a professional appearance in a sharp grey dress and black heels. The woman was now giving him a long appreciative gaze and he smirked as he held out a hand to shake. It was the right move as she puffed slightly and gave his hand a firm squeeze. 

“Thank you for the warm welcome Eileen, Dr. O’Riley. I am pleased to be here as well. With me is Ms. Girardi, a lawyer and social worker as well. I brought her today to help me, as I have found myself a bit at a loss with all the ins and outs of adoption and Ms. Girardi has been an invaluable resource.” He said all this with the same smile on his face. The Headmistress gave him a (somehow) even larger smile. 

“Of course! Of course. I can only imagine how a single alpha such as yourself must be in a bit of tizzy with all the information associated with adoption.” She giggled at this and led them inside through the halls. 

“Well, I am actually in the process of confirming a contract with an omega but as I’m sure you are aware these things can take time and this one in particular is very delicate in nature.” He purred the words out as they were directed in a rather floral office. He had to take a moment to let his eyes adjust to the sudden assault of many different colors and shapes. Thankfully, the headmistress, who was chattering on about omegas and sensibilities, didn’t notice the moment of inattention. 

He settled in one of the floral monstrosities that passed as a chair while casting his gaze to the side to catch his lawyer’s eye. The young human, to her credit, had an incredibly serene expression on her face and had taken a lull in the ramble to start engaging with the headmistress on how the school programs were run. Peter was incredibly grateful for this as it gave him a moment to compose himself. 

“ -- how do you maintain the balance of humans vs. wolves on staff? I imagine you want the children to learn both worlds.” Ms. Girard had just finished asking this as Peter finally pulled his attention back to the conversation. 

“Of course we desire the omegas in our care to understand both the races that they exist in. However, we find most of them already have a solid understanding of human culture and need more attention paid to the wolf one. Of course, we have plenty of humans on staff, specifically as care providers in the dorms and medical wing.” The Headmistress’ smile had become a little forced so Peter thought it would be a good time to jump in. 

“That sounds like very sound reasoning, Eileen. I admit I haven’t had much interaction with omegas but I know from speaking with my sister that the omegas that don’t grow up attending a prestigious school like yours often have little to no understanding of proper pack dynamics.” He said, flashing her a brilliant smile. 

He could almost see her ruffled feathers smooth over. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. For a werewolf, she was truly terrible at judging intent and emotions. He knew he was particularly good at hiding his true emotions but really, how could she be so clueless. 

“Thank you Alpha Hale, it is incredibly comforting to hear that our efforts have been noticed in the greater wolf community. Your sister has been such an amazing benefactor and advocate of ours for years. I”m so pleased you have chosen our facility to come and look at.” She flushed slightly as she spoke and turned not so subtly in her chair to almost cut off Miss Girardi from the conversation. 

“Yes, I’m curious how much Talia told you about the reason for my visit? It sounds as if she might have been a little overly cautious in relaying details.” Peter leaned back in the chair as he spoke, keeping his voice light and idle. 

A gleam appeared in the Headmistress’ eye and she smiled in what she probably thought was a coy smile. “Alpha Talia Hale just said that you were looking to adopt and she would greatly appreciate it if we gave you as much help as you might need. I will admit that as I pride myself on my ability to pick up nuances. I did detect a note of something in her tone that made me believe that the matter was an extremely delicate one. I, of course, have no wish to pry into the affairs of such a prominent pack…” 

Peter leaned forward placing his hands on his knees and furrowing his face in concern. “You are very astute. I believe that we can trust you to remain discrete so I will share a few more details in the hopes it helps move this along quickly and without doubt on motives. As I mentioned earlier I am in the process of making a contract with an omega. This situation is different than most because the omega in question is independent…” he halted to wait out the gasp and then continued. 

“I’m afraid I can’t say why, but believe me it is very important for our pack’s reputation that I can cement this contract soon. The omega is balking on some of the traditional aspects of such contracts and, well, his sister is in attendance in this school as an orphan. Talia is currently paying her fees and we both believe it would help...expedite matters if I had custody of said sister.” 

He could see the wheels turning as the woman obviously was going through the roster in her mind. Peter knew that Talia paid fees for several omega children at the school but he was sure she would land on the correct one soon. Her smile took on a more shrewd look and she gave him a sweeping onceover. He smiled blandly back at her while he heard Dr. O’Riley shift then huff a little. The good doctor seemed to be getting annoyed by the conversation. Good, maybe she could move it along a bit faster. 

The headmistress settled back into her chair with a triumphant smile on her face. “I appreciate your candor, Alpha Hale.” 

“Peter, please.” 

Her smile got wider. “Peter. I do believe I can be of service. Dr. O’Riley, you don’t foresee any objections, do you?” 

“I need to speak to Alpha Hale privately.” The doctor’s words were clipped but she didn’t flinch under the harsh glare the headmistress sent her way. 

“I really don’t think that would be necessary. I can --” 

“It is completely necessary. You may have forgotten protocol with one smile turned your way by an alpha but I am not so easily swayed.” 

Feeling amused, Peter sat back and tried to arrange his expression to something like apologetic. “I am so sorry if I have overstepped or implied anything...I of course understand the need for protocol and would gladly sit to an interview with the good doctor.” 

The headmistress was bristling in anger and embarrassment now. “You --” 

“Actually, he doesn’t.” Everyone turned to look at Miss Girardi, who had been forgotten about entirely. She gave them all a polite smile and continued. “Miriam Stilinski is not a ward of the state. She is technically under the guardianship of Alpha Talia Hale. I have here notarized forms of Alpha Talia Hale giving Alpha Peter Hale permission to gain custody of Miriam Stilinski. Doctor O’Riley is welcome to ask whatever questions she has and can of course declare Alpha Peter Hale as an unfit guardian but he is not required to speak with her unless she has a court order.” 

At the end of this speech, the woman handed over several documents to the headmistress while maintaining the same polite smile. Peter was very impressed and immediately began making plans for how to get this young lawyer into his pack. Dr. O’Riley was oozing deep irritation and she shifted her seat again while giving Ms. Girardi a dark look. Before the doctor could speak though the headmistress took the line Ms. Girardi had cast out to her and ran with it. 

“Ah, thank you so much for clarifying matters from a legal standpoint. I was just about to remind Dr. O’Riley of this as well. Good, good, I don’t believe we will need your assistance anymore then, you may leave and I’ll let you know if we have any questions.” 

Peter had to cough and look away to keep himself from snorting at the look of outrage on the social worker’s face. Some part of him felt sympathy for her. It was evident that she was outraged at this casual transfer of guardianship. He knew this system was a fucked up mess but he wasn’t a good enough person to not use it to his advantage when it suited him. Dr. O’Riley obviously could see she had lost so it was with a stiff nod that she swept out of the room. 

The Headmistress beamed at them again. “Now that little bit of unpleasantness has been dealt with…” She pressed a button on her phone as she picked it up. “Delia, please go collect Omega Stilinski and bring her to my office.” 

Peter smiled at her and kept up the inane chatter and compliments as they waited. It didn’t take long for him to hear two heartbeats approaching. When the door opened he frowned a bit in surprise. The small girl, half hiding behind the other woman, was not exactly what he had been expecting. By her coloring and looks it was obvious she was related to Stiles. The pale skin, brown hair and the smattering of moles would make that known to anyone. Her demeanor was what threw him off. From Stiles’ descriptions he had been expecting a miniature version of her older brother. Not this submissive, hunched over thing that wouldn’t even look at up as the Headmistress’ voice demanded attention. 

“Ah there you are, yes, Miriam, this is Alpha Peter Hale. Talia Hale’s brother. He is to be your new guardian. Peter, why don’t you and Miriam go into my private study and get to know each other while Miss Geraldi and I finish the necessary paperwork.” 

As she said this she waved her dismissively at the other woman in the room who left, leaving the child behind without even a backwards glance. For the first time he saw true emotion on his lawyer’s face as her nostrils flared and a tiny bit of disgust wafted off before the woman had pulled it all back in and turned to pull out more papers. 

Peter got up and did not miss the very slight flinch backwards Miriam made when he moved towards her. Making sure to keep his movements slow he walked over to what was presumably the study door and opened it. The headmistress brought her hand down on the desk with a smack making Miriam jump and hastily go through the open door. It took everything in him not to growl at the woman for scaring his cub. The realization that he’d just thought of the child as his made him stumble a bit as he shut the door behind himself. Feeling his protective instincts flare again as he saw that the cub had put two chairs between them as well as tucked herself by a bookshelf and a table. He had the very strong urge to charge back out into the school and rip apart whomever had made her so afraid. 

Keeping his approach slow, he got within six feet and then lowered himself to the floor. She was taller than him now and he knew it would give the appearance of it being harder for him to make sudden movements. He really wished he could have brought Stiles with him. He wasn’t the best at comforting scared children. He did have something that might help though. Digging into his pocket he pulled out a small piece of metal and held it out towards her. Surprise then anger came off the young omega as she stared at the silver sheriff’s badge he was holding. 

“Your brother gave it to me.” He said, answering the unasked question. Curiosity joined the anger burning off the small body now. He gave her what he hoped was a gentle smile (in all honesty it was probably more smirk like. He didn’t really know how to do gentle). “Stiles and I have bonded, one of his conditions was that you would live with him.” 

She took a couple of cautious steps towards him. He waited, watching her gather up her courage. “Why…?” 

He hummed. “Why would Stiles want to live with you or why would I bond with Stiles?” He smirked at the outraged look she gave him and then sighed, his arm was starting to get tired. “I bonded with Stiles for multiple reasons. But I think the most important for you to understand is that I admired his courage and strength. He wasn’t willing to just let anyone take you from him and went to get you back by any means he could. It is an honor he agreed to be my mate and I want him to be happy.” 

She was still regarding him with a deep suspicion but she came forward now to take the badge out of his hand. Running her fingers over it, she flipped it over and smiled a little at the back. Looking back up she jutted out her chin and said, “You’re Derek’s uncle.” 

He sat back, a little startled. That had not been the family member he’d been ready to be accused of being related to. “Yes…” He answered, feeling out of his depth again. 

“He said you’re his favorite.” She kept playing with the badge. He wasn’t sure if that statement required an answer or not so stayed quiet. “I liked Derek, even though he was stupid about my brother.” 

Peter’s lips twitched. “Derek does have that tendency. He’s part of my pack too, he’s at my house currently with Stiles and by now I assume a couple member’s of Stiles’ pack.” 

She was still wary of him but the fear seemed to be abating. The door opening stopped whatever she was about to say and she flinched back towards the wall. He got to his feet smoothly and turned to smile at the Headmistress. “I take it everything is in order?” 

She beamed at him. “Yes, just need your signature.” 

“Good. Now, is there someone who can bring Miriam to pack up her things or should I accompany her after we finish all the paperwork?” 

The smile dimmed slightly. “Pack up her things…?” 

He raised an eyebrow and maneuvered closer to give her a more secretive smile. “Yes, unfortunately we need to have her moved out of your fine facilities for the time being. As I said earlier, there are some delicate negotiations happening.” 

The woman relaxed somewhat but had a slight frown on her face. “I still don’t think it’s a very good idea. We have just managed to make Miriam understand her proper place and how to show the proper respect. If she’s removed from this environment we might have to start all over again with her when she returns.” 

The sour scent of fear mixed the rapid rise of the heartbeat behind him made Peter want to shake this woman and maybe even claw her eyes out. Instead he kept the smile on his face and angled even closer to purr in her ear. “Oh, believe me, I have no desire to override any of the work you’ve put into her. I have a nanny all set up to continue it. For now, this is what needs to be done until things are finalized with my mate.” 

That seemed to appease the horrid woman so they went back into the main office and finished the paperwork. Peter would have left Miriam in the study but she was quickly ordered out to stand next to Peter. The fear was back and he wished he could reassure the trembling omega next to him but unfortunately if he didn’t want any of this getting back to Talia yet he had to let it be for the moment. 

After all the paperwork was finished another worker of the school came by with a small bag of Miriam’s possessions. He gave it a quick once over and grimaced slightly. The clothes were all the same bland things she was currently wearing. Black leggings, stiff navy dress and black cardigan. The sleeping clothes were solid navy flannel. He had the deep urge to burn the whole bag. The only personal thing was a slightly ragged, stuffed wolf that looked handmade. He could detect the very faintest hint of Stiles on the animal and he ached a bit when he saw no pictures or anything else to remind her of her family. 

Time seemed to drag until they were finally allowed outside and back to the car. The Headmistress seemed to keep coming up with more and more things she needed to tell them. But finally they got situated in the car and drove out through the gate and back towards the main road. Peter felt himself slump slightly in relief as he pulled out his phone and hit call on Stiles’ name. As soon as he had hit the button he passed the phone back to a startled Miriam. 

“Peter? Did it work? Do you have her??” Stiles’ eager voice came through. Miriam hunched up on the seat and practically sobbed into the phone. 

“Stiles…” 

“Oh my gods, Miri! Little shadow kit, Miriam, are you ok? I’m so happy to hear your voice, talk to me please, tell me how you are.” 

“I’m ok, are you really -- is this…?” She trailed off with a whimper that made Peter clench the steering wheel tight. Ms. Girardi next to him had her mouth set in a thin line. He 

“Yeah, kitten, this is real, I promise. Peter’s one of the good ones, I promise, ok? I promise. You’re going to be ok and soon you are going to see me again, ok? I love you so much, kitten.” 

They spoke for a few more minutes until Stiles asked to talk to Peter. He took the phone from Miriam and spoke with his mate briefly. It was too late in the day to drive all the way back to Beacon County so he was planning on getting a hotel room for the night. He promised to video call once they were settled in. After that, he went over a few more details with Ms. Girardi and then dropped her off at her vehicle. She left him with a promise to let him know once the paperwork was filed and then ignored his attempts to convince her to be on retainer with him. It was nearing two pm by now and Peter was starving. 

“What kind of food do you like to eat?” He asked Miriam as he headed towards the hotel he had booked. The blank look he got in response was not very encouraging. 

“Whatever you want.” 

“Based on my sister’s kids as well as my niece’s I’ve found that rarely to be true with kids.” He said while casting around for somewhere that looked like it might have decent kid options that wasn’t fast food. He would not lower himself to eat somewhere that didn’t even bring the food to his table. The heartbeat intensified again and he internally sighed. He was just not good at this. Cursing his pride that had said he could do this on his own he headed towards a mall. It looked like a good one so he parked. Before getting out, he twisted in his seat to look more closely at Miriam. She was hunched up again and playing with the end of her sleeve. 

“Miriam.” She flinched slightly. “Miriam, I’m asking because I honestly want to know. You aren’t going to get in trouble for having a preference. I…” He trailed off and glared at the windshield. Stupid alpha pride that wanted to prove what an amazing mate he was to Stiles. He should have brought Cora. “I just want you to have something you want and for it to be nice. I also think we should go clothes shopping, your brother might kill me if I show up and those horrendous outfits are the only personal things you have.” 

She looked up, her eyes meeting his before she nodded and slowly un-hunched a tiny bit. “Can I...can I wear pants? Or shorts? And tshirts?” The hope in her voice made his hard heart break a bit and he found himself melting slightly. 

“Of course, you can wear whatever you want. Just tell me what you want and we’ll go find it.” 

She hesitated again and he waited, trying to be as patient as possible. “Could I get mac and cheese for lunch? They said I couldn’t eat that ever again because it has carbs and those are bad for omegas because otherwise we’ll get fat and no alpha would want us and I said I didn’t want an alpha but then --” She stopped herself and winced. “Sorry. I know I shouldn’t talk so much.” 

Peter felt a tiny smile make its way across his face. “Yes, I will find us a place where you can have mac and cheese and I’ve just mated with your brother, I need to get used to lots of talking in my future.” 

Miriam looked up at him with wide eyes and he gave her a wink that surprised a slight giggle out of her. Feeling inordinately pleased with himself he got out of the car to open her door. She hopped out and went with him as he ushered her into the mall. A quick stop at the information booth sent him to one of the nicer restaurants available. It wasn’t his normal type of place but it promised to have good pasta. So help him if he didn’t want her to have her get the best mac and cheese she had ever had. 

Dinner went better than Peter had expected. Miriam seemed to be warming up to him and she was obviously excited about the food. He ordered her a chocolate milk and if the smile he got in response made his heart melt a little bit, nobody had to know that except him. She also seemed all right with silence, though she did start tentatively asking him questions halfway through the meal. They were mostly about his pack members and anything about Stiles that he could tell her. Pleased at her interest he happily told her every detail of the story how he and Stiles had met and then the rest of it all from his perspective (other than the sex. He had a feeling that wasn’t something he should mention). 

After they sat they wandered into the main part of the mall. He had to pull her away from the JC Pennys and shuffled them into the Nordstrom that the mall thankfully had. Once he got to the children’s department he let her lead the way again. She seemed apt to only grab a few items but after gentle encouragement happily piled up more. It was mostly jeans, leggings, tshirts and a few sweaters. Most of the tops were some form of purple and he made a mental note to order her some bedroom things in purple. 

By the time they were done they were both getting hungry again so they headed out to the hotel and he ordered them room service. He had gotten a suite that had a separate bedroom for Miriam to sleep in. He had assumed that the omega would feel more comfortable with that arrangement. It seemed as if he had guessed right when she eagerly dragged all her bags of clothes into the room and shut the door. She came out when the food did, dressed in black leggings and a slightly oversized t-shirt with the death star on it. His lips twitched, she had dragged him into the boys section to get that one, insisting on needing things with star wars on them. 

After they finished eating he gave her the remote and was deeply amused when she found a channel playing returns of Star Trek Enterprise. She settled into the hotel couch and curled up next to him. A couple episodes in she got up to get some water and when she came back took a while to get settled and kept casting slightly anxious looks at him. Finally, he muted the TV and turned to her and raised an eyebrow. 

“If you want to ask me something I’m not going to get upset at you.” 

She sunk slowly into the couch and stared at the pillow she was clutching. When she spoke it was only because he was a werewolf that he heard her. “Can I hug you?” 

“Of course.” 

Still smelling a little bit of nerves she shuffled over to lean in and wrap herself around him. He slowly hugged her back, breathing in her scent as he did so. She smelled so much like Stiles but more earthy and soft. He realized that small tears were coming out and he pulled her full onto his lap so he could cradle her better. “It’s all right I got. You’re safe now.” They stayed like that for a long while until he heard her breathing even out into sleep. After depositing her carefully in the bed, he sat back down on the couch and called Stiles. 

“Stiles’ phone! Stiles is unavailable right now but if you’d like to leave a message about anything sex relat--” 

“ERICA!” 

Peter sat back and listened, amused to the thumps and bumps going on through the phone’s speaker. There were a few shrieks by the woman who had answered the phone (Erica, he presumed) and a couple of loud yelps by Stiles. Eventually the phone got picked up again though still not by Stiles. 

“Hello? Uh, are you still there?” The voice sounded hesitant and a little bit nervous. Peter bit off the sarcastic response and opted for something a little nicer. 

“Still here. Isaac, I presume?” 

“Yup, that’s me. Stiles should be free in a minute, this is usually the point where he goes for electricity to get her off him.” 

“Now that is something I think I might enjoy seeing.” 

Isaac huffed. “Yeah, wait until you’ve seen it every day for a month and I bet you’ll be just as done with it as the rest of us. How’s Miriam?” 

Peter blinked at the topic change but was able to answer easily enough. “She’s doing as well as can be expected, I think. I must admit, I don’t have the most experience with children but I seem to have not fucked it up too badly.” 

He was rewarded with a laugh. “Yeah, that’s fair. You should have seen Jackson around her three years ago. Man, that was freaking hysterical. She had his number too, anytime we needed him to cooperate she would just start to wobble her lower lip and he caved immediately.” 

It was Peter’s turn to laugh. “I see deviousness runs in the Stilinski family.” 

“It really does. Oh, here’s Stiles.” 

“Peter! Sooo sorry...Erica stole my phone earlier and I didn’t realize she had it until you called. Is everything ok? How’s Miriam?” 

Peter settled further into the couch to give a summary how the rest of the day had gone. He relayed his concerns at how quiet she was but also shared that he was hopeful for her based on the initiative shown in clothes preferences. Stiles gave him some ideas of things she liked in case she went nonverbal again and then they chatted about a few other things before Peter had to let his mate go to bed. He was late getting to bed himself, even after he ended the call. He felt restless and just wanted to be home with his pack and Stiles. It didn’t help that he could sense Miriam sleeping restlessly in the room next to him. He had to keep himself from going in a couple times. He wasn’t sure what the boundaries were yet and was worried about overstepping them. 

By the time morning came around he had managed to get enough sleep that he hoped he wouldn’t be too cranky during the day. He and Miriam got breakfast and then headed out early. It was a good eight hour drive to the house and Peter wanted to do it all in one day. He had downloaded some audio books that Stiles had suggested the night before and Miriam was able to pick one after only a little hesitation. Peter was very grateful for this as it helped the car ride go quicker and also keep the awkward moments to only a few. 

It was early evening by the time they finally pulled up to his cabin (it’s not a mansion and he refuses to call it that) and Miriam practically threw herself out of the car to run up and meet Stiles (who practically fell out of the house). They didn’t let go of each other for the rest of the night. Stiles’ whole pack was there by now, including Lydia and Jackson. Derek was skulking in the shadows, looking both amazed and overwhelmed by turns. 

Peter went outside a few hours after their arrival and gripped the edge of the balcony tight. He had a pack, he knows this but it’s so small and they have had to stay away from each other so Talia doesn’t find out too soon. He hadn’t realized just how much he’d already been counting on Stiles to help fill the void in him where the warm pack bonds should be. Seeing the omega with his friends and how tight their bonds are woven together made his heart ache. He was so distracted by these thoughts that he didn't notice Stiles’ approaching until the omega wrapped two arms around his middle and placed a chin on his shoulder. 

“Are you ok?” 

He’s stiffened up and can’t seem to relax. This is everything he wanted but now he’s paralyzed by fear that it will leave him. “Yes.” 

Hands moved him around until he was facing Stiles. “Peter, what’s wrong?” 

He growled softly and began to pull away. “Nothing. Go enjoy your pack.” 

Brown eyes light up and suddenly Stiles is kissing him, warm and soft. He couldn’t help but kiss back, he is pretty sure he could drown himself in those kisses. Pulling back, Stiles rolled his eyes and gave him a small whack on the warm. “Idiot. They’re your pack now too, if you want them. Did you think you could just get me alone and that wouldn't include my sister or pack?” 

Peter felt all the air leave his lungs. “What…?” 

Stiles laughed and leaned in to kiss him again. “Idiot.” He said again before wrapping his arms around Peter’s shoulders and pulling the alpha into a hug. “I’m not going anywhere and Miriam has been singing your praises all night. Apparently you let her buy all the purple things and she’s hoping that you’ll let her paint her room purple.” 

Peter looked at his mate, feeling giddy from relief. “Everything she owns can be purple if she wants it to be.” 

“You say that now but wait until she’s trying to convince you to buy purple mixing bowls or you’ve found her in the process of trying to dye her hair purple and she ends up permanently staining the sink.” 

“I can’t wait, sweetheart.” Peter said and then dragged his mate back into the room to work on getting to know his new pack members.


	6. Chapter 6

“Stiles!” 

It was only Peter’s insane reflexes that stopped him from waking up with a stomach full of Miriam. She shrieked as the werewolf scooped her out of the air and plopped her down on the edge of the bed. Feeling only half awake Stiles took in her shocked face as she stared slack jawed at Peter. The alpha was looking a bit dazed himself and taking in deep breaths. Stiles was about to ask what the fuck when he noticed Miri’s eyes start to fill up. Comfort mode activated, he scrambled over to her to pull her in tight just as the tears started. 

“Hey, hey, little shadow, you’re ok, I’ve got you.” 

Miriam just burrowed into him, faintly sobbing. Stiles looked over at Peter. The wolf looked a bit like he’d been kicked in the face and also a bit like he was about to bolt. Stiles gave him what he hoped was a firm look and gestured with a free hand for Peter to stay on the bed. 

“Miriam, I need you to look at me, ok? There you go, see, nothing wrong here. Did that scare you?” At her sheepish nod he grinned a bit. “Yeah, I think Peter was scared too. In fact. I bet he was more scared than you were.” Her eyes widened and she glanced over at the alpha. “Yup. Super scaredy wolf got startled awake and thought you were sneak attacking his mate. He didn’t mean to scare you back it’s just that when some people get scared they attack back instead of running or hiding.” 

Miriam turned her face back into him for a moment. He could feel her hands twisting in his sleeping shirt, a sure sign of her brain starting to process. His sister was pretty smart for a nine year old, he was going to attribute this mini meltdown to the horrors of whatever the fuck went on at that stupid omega school. After about a minute, she looked back over at Peter. 

“I’m sorry Peter. I didn’t mean to scare you.” 

Peter gave her a rueful look and scooted a bit closer to them. “I’m sorry too, Miri, I’m not used to anyone else coming into my room in the morning.” 

Her face crumpled a little. “Was I bad?” She practically whispered the words and started shaking a bit. 

Peter made an agitated whining noise. “No, no, no, sweetheart, you did nothing wrong. This is your home and unless we specifically ask you not to, you are always welcome in our room. I’m so sorry sweetie.” 

Stiles just kept up his soothing rubs and waited for his sister to think. He knew she would speak again once she had processed. He did hold out a hand for Peter to take and pulled the alpha closer to them again. While he didn’t want to push anything too fast with Miriam, he had a feeling that the more he showed confidence with Peter the easier it would be for her to relax about him as well. 

“You don’t mind that I’m here?” Miriam pulled up a little as she asked. She still had a firm grip on Stiles but her attention was fixed on Peter. The alpha gave her such a soft smile it made Stiles melt inside. 

“I am absolutely positive that I don’t mind that you are here. I’m so pleased that I have both you and Stiles in my life now.” Peter tentatively offered a hand out to her. Miriam watched it, her hands twitching from where they were gripping his shirt like a lifeline. 

“At the school...they said that an alpha wouldn’t want an omega child in the house to distract their mate from meeting their needs...they said if I cared about Stiles I wouldn’t try to convince him to take me with him if he got mated…” 

Peter let out a low rumble and looked a bit murderous. “If an alpha believes that then they are a bad alpha. I...I was raised with a lot of beliefs and I admit that I think I have a lot of new things to learn but I do know that as long as you want to be here then you get to be here.” 

In the silence that followed Stiles had to actively keep himself from twitching or speaking. Miriam needed the time to work this out and him bumbling in with more words wouldn’t help at this moment. He’d given her a lot of reassurances about Peter the night before but it wasn’t surprising that she still had fears. After what seemed like hours but was most likely only a minute or two, Miriam reached out to take Peter’s hand and tugged the alpha closer. Peter had to place an arm around his side to balance himself and Miriam took advantage to squish herself on top of both of them. 

“Alpha Talia can’t take me away again, right?” The words were still small but given the way she had burrowed her face into Peter’s chest made Stiles all gooey inside again. Based on the soft smile on Peter’s face, he wasn’t the only one feeling a little gooey. 

“Absolutely not. She has no rights over you anymore.” Peter wrapped his free arm around Miriam and tucked her in even closer. 

Somehow the three on them managed to lie back down with both Stiles and Miriam tucked in and on top of Peter. Stiles hadn’t known it was possible to feel this happy or content again. He felt so incredibly safe with Peter and listening to Miriam’s light breathing settled something inside of him that had been missing. He was almost drifting off to sleep again when the click of a camera shutter made him blearily look up again. 

“Erica…” He groaned at the blond who was grinning at them madly from the doorway. She had her phone out and was obviously taking more pictures. Peter shifted and glared at her as well which also had no affect. 

“You are all just the cutest of cute things! Also, apparently sourface wolf makes excellent waffles. He’s refusing to let us eat them though until his ‘alpha’ is there. So up! Up!” 

“Waffles?” Miriam was instantly awake and already scrambling over him towards Erica. 

“Yes, oh favorite munchkin of mine, with strawberries! Better get your daddies up first though, Derek’s being stupid about it.” 

“Stiles! Peter! Waffles!” Miriam pounced on his stomach, all earlier fears seemingly gone again. 

Peter rolled out of bed and scooped her carefully up. At her encouraging giggle he grinned and slung her over her shoulder. “Well, I guess I can’t really say no to waffles can I?” 

Stiles had to sit up to watch the amazing ass of his alpha mate as Peter walked out of the room. Erica’s cackle made him blush and throw a pillow at her. “Shut up.” 

Still cackling she dragged him out of the bed. “Nope, not gonna, you landed a hot piece of alpha ass and you get to enjoy the view as much as you want.” His swat towards Erica missed of course and he had to content himself with chasing his giggling friend down the stairs and into the kitchen. Breakfast was amazing and Miriam seemed to relax even more throughout it. 

The rest of the day passed in a of a haze of activities. Lydia had come prepared with various group games and insisted they spend the majority of bonding as a pack. Erica made them go outside just after lunch and play capture the flag which turned into capture the omega as Stiles refused to even try to outrun a whole bunch of werewolves. Lydia rolled her eyes and watched them all from the patio sipping on cocktails. 

The first time Peter pounced on him in the forest Stiles felt a rush of arousal so strong he was almost embarrassed. Peter growled in his ear and shoved him up against a tree to possessively kiss him. He barely had time to process his own needy whines and Peter’s urgent growling before he was on his hands on the forest floor. “Peter please, please, I need you…” He was so hot and just needed Peter in him. The wolf scrabbled at his pants and barely had them pulled down before Peter’s cocked was pushing into him. 

“Look at you, so desperate for me. I missed you, wanted to do this the whole time I was away. So needy, so desperate.” Peter’s words in his ears just made him keen louder and he tried to push back against Peter’s hard thrusts. Neither of them lasted long and all too soon Peter was clamping blunt teeth down on his shoulder as he came into Stiles. That was all Stiles needed to go over the edge as well. 

He all but collapsed onto the forest floor and groaned as he felt leaves and dirt sticking to him. “So gross…” 

Peter chuckled from behind him and pressed kisses to his neck. “I’d apologize but I’m not sorry. Couldn’t resist you when you smelled so good and so needy. I’ll clean you up in the shower.” 

Peter let him sneak them back into the house through a side door which made him feel a little better about it all. Peter just rolled his eyes and reminded Stiles that they were all werewolves who could smell them. Grumbling, Stiles shut up the alpha by shedding his clothes as he sprinted away into the bathroom. Peter followed and proceed to fuck him again against the shower wall. As soon as they were out of the shower and fairly dry the alpha laid him out on the bed and slowly kissed, licked and bit across his entire body. 

Every touch made him light up on the inside. Peter’s warm hands holding him down were the only thing that kept him from floating away. Rough, blunt teeth dragged at his nipples only to be replaced by gentle kisses. Peter’s fingers grazed down his cock, the finger light touch making him beg for more. Latching onto the base of his throat and sucking hard, the alpha’s thumb began to rub over his clit. The slight pain from the bite on his neck combined with the light stimulation send him over the edge into orgasm. 

Trembling from the aftershocks he keened, arching his back as Peter gently pressed his folds open. Peter took his time now, slowly dragging his cock in and out of Stiles’ body. Building him up so close to orgasm that he was a trembling, begging mess by the time the alpha finally came inside him. “So perfect.” Peter said, murmuring the words into his ear while pressing kisses to his limp neck. 

Stiles just snuggled up to his mate and laid there feeling the same contentment from earlier. Peter seemed happy to curl up around him and let out several happy rumbles. They were able to lazily stay there until a banging on the door started them up. 

“Peter, Cora and Braedon. Dinner’s soon and Miriam is missing Stiles.” Derek’s usual gruff voice sounded even more annoyed than usual so they got up, dressed and went downstairs. Stiles immediately felt guilty because as soon as he stepped down he had a clinging Miriam in his arms. She didn’t say anything so he moved over to the couch so she could curl up in his lap. Cora brought with her a whole other type of aggressive energy that played far too well off Erica. Braeden had the positive effect of distracting Derek enough that the wolf actually smiled! After dinner Lydia made them all settle into the large living room where she could hold court more effectively.

“All right, so, we know that Peter and Stiles should have their official mating ceremony before the council meeting next month. We are all here now but does anyone else need to be present in order to prove the validity of the mating?” Lydia looked at Peter for the last part. 

Peter made a slight face but sat up from where he had been curled into Stiles. “We have two choices for a ceremony. The most official way to do it would be to go to Talia. She’d delight in being able to plan it and then no one would be able to refute it. However, since we do already have the contract signed with witnesses we could do a private ceremony with just our two packs. Do the pack merging and bonding here in Beacon County.” 

Lydia hummed thoughtfully, tapping her fingernails against the arm of her chair. “Stiles? Thoughts?” 

He rolled his eyes. “I would rather never see Talia’s face again but we don’t want her or any other traditional alphas making a fuss. I still think we should do something here with all our packs for us but yeah...since Peter talked Talia into endorsing this mating we should have her oversee the official mating ceremony.” 

Erica shifted slightly and growled. “We get to all come though, right? I mean, I want to do whatever it is here too but no way in hell I’m letting Stiles suffer through some big extravaganza without his pack. Especially if you know who is going to be there.” 

Stiles winced, his whole pack growled and Lydia scowled at the wall. Cora just looked confusedly between everyone. “Uh, what?” 

“Scott McCall.” Lydia said in a clipped tone. “When he left Beacon Hills he managed to burn several bridges behind him. Stiles was the most affected. But anyway, would it be possible to have the ceremony in Beacon Hills, Peter? You could sell it to Talia as a way for her to re-establish ties with the community. It would then also give you an excuse to be in the area so you could actually be establishing ties with the community.” 

Peter looked at the redhead in surprise. “That is a good idea. I think she could be convinced. We would need to do it quickly though.” 

Lydia smiled, sharp and predatory. “Three weeks. We will hold it in three weeks. My mother has been already putting things in motion in preparation for everything. The ceremony itself would be held at the Nemeton as is traditional which Boyd and Stiles have been tending to for the last several years so that will be no issue. We can let Talia figure out where to house anyone she wants to invite, just tell her to get you a list of names and I’ll give it to my mother.” 

Stiles had to hide his grin as Lydia finished. The Hale pack members were staring at his fellow omega like they had never seen one before. Peter started chuckling, then he threw back his head and laughed. “Oh this is just too perfect.” Warm lips brushed his cheek in a kiss. “Your pack is amazing, darling. Lydia, I leave it all in your capable hands, remind me tomorrow morning and I’ll set you up with finances to pay for anything you need to.” 

They had to hash out a few more details but everyone trusted Lydia to pull in whomever she needed. The two packs got into a rousing game of charades then which had the bonus of pulling Miriam back out of her shell. He hoped that for her sake this period of drastic ups and downs would end soon. He didn’t blame her for her emotions but he just hated seeing his confident little sister so easily afraid of others. 

The next couple days were full of making plans for the ceremony and pack bonding. Peter went through several rounds of interrogation from his pack but eventually they all agreed to follow his lead to join Peter’s pack. Three days after Miriam had been brought home they all gathered by the edge of the lake to hold a small pack joining ceremony. Stiles felt like he would burst with excitement as the feeling of the new pack bonds slid in next to the bond with him and Peter. He could feel Peter’s pack now as well which made him giddy with excitement. 

The day after this Lydia dragged him out for a walk and what she called an ‘omega’ talk. This was code for when they needed to discuss strategy or make pack decisions so Stiles went fairly willingly. He did make sure to check in with Miriam first. He’d been making sure that he didn’t go anywhere too far away from her without telling her exactly where he was going and about how long he thought he would be. This seemed to help reassure her anxiety. 

They walked in silence for a few minutes but Lydia knew him well enough to not let the silence linger on too long. “He’s a good alpha, you picked well.” 

“No need to sound so surprised.” He snorted lightly at the look she gave him. 

“Well, considering you literally agreed to mate with him after one meeting after Talia threw you out of her party and he’s Talia’s brother, I think surprise is warranted.” 

“Ok, point…is that all you dragged me out here to tell me?” 

“Don’t be dense. It doesn’t suit you.” 

He looked away, mentally categorizing the trees. “I would have thought you’d have this conversation with me before our packs merged.” 

“Joining Peter’s pack was all our own choices so it didn’t much matter.” 

“I don’t know how to tell him, Lydia...what if he’s like all the others? What if he dismisses it as nothing or pointless? Deaton --” 

“Deaton is an idiot and also is a slave to the same rhetoric that Talia and most of the werewolves believe in. To them omegas are nothing but sweet, pliable, brood mares. Humans are beneath them.” 

“Except magic users.” His words were quiet now, remembering past hurt. 

“Yes.” He heard the same pain in Lydia’s voice and was quick to reach out to grab her hand. “You and I both know they don’t take well to anyone crossing over the intended order of things. Peter is different though, he wanted you as someone different. I do believe he wants to build a different kind of pack.” 

Squeezing her hand tight he fought back a rolling tide of emotions. He’d been struggling with how to tell Peter about his magic since the alpha had brought him back into Beacon County. The land had been singing to him since he’d stepped foot back on it. “I know he’s different...I’m just -- he wants a different omega but this is…” He trailed off, feeling frustrated with himself. 

Lydia pulled him gently to a stop and wrapped him up in a hug. “I know. I know it’s scary. Gods know that I’m not scared too for him to know about, you know.” 

“Yeah, I know.” 

They talked about the ceremony for the rest of the walk and Stiles was able to gradually relax again. Lydia and Jackson left that day. Jackson needed to get back to his school and Lydia wanted to arrange some details in a larger city. Boyd needed to get back to Beacon Hills and after a small debate, Isaac and Erica went with him. Cora and Derek left as well, saying that they had Hale family obligations to handle. Braeden stuck around for a few more days before she left to go ‘chase down some leads’, whatever the hell that meant. He gave Peter a stink eye but the alpha serenely ignored him. 

It took him another two days of dithering where he focused mostly on Miriam as Peter was (thankfully) distracted by making sure everything was in place on his side of things. Deucalion and Marin were set to arrive a week before the ceremony to finish plotting with Peter so Stiles knew he had to do this soon. He waited until he’d gotten Miriam to bed before going back downstairs where Peter was frowning intently at a computer screen. 

“Uh, Peter?” 

The alpha hummed a response but Stiles could tell the focus was still on the computer. Shit. He’d hoped that at least it would be easy to get Peter’s attention but nooo… He almost turned around and went back upstairs but forced himself to stop. Lydia was right. He needed to tell Peter about this before they were back in Beacon Hills. 

“Peter, I need to tell you something.” This got Peter to half turn and nod at him which was a little encouraging. It was quickly ruined though by the alpha turning back to the table to scribble something down on a piece of paper. Stiles narrowed his eyes. Ok, now he was getting irritated. He knew that they hadn’t been able to spend much time just the two of them since they had gotten to the mansion in the woods but seriously, the man couldn’t pay attention to him for five minutes? 

“I have magic. Like lots of magic. Like bonded to the great big nemeton in the middle of Beacon Hills magic. Like Boyd and I have started rituals to make the nemeton grow again magic. I think it’s called a spark, actually, but Deaton is a dick so...yeah, thought you should know. Ok. Goodnight.” 

He spun on his heel to march back upstairs when a hand on his arm stopped him. Looking back, Peter was up and staring at him intently. “Oh, look, you were paying attention.” He griped the words out while trying to pull his arm away. 

Peter raised an eyebrow. “Was I paying attention to my mate telling me that he has cultivated his magic to the point of regrowing a nemeton? Yes, Stiles, I was paying attention. Let’s go sit down.” He let Peter maneuver him back over to the couches and pull him down to sit. The wolf kept holding his hand and started to rub a thumb over his pulse point. It was very distracting. 

“Uh, yeah, sorry…” 

“What are you possibly sorry for? Stiles, this is...this is amazing. This is everything the old stories say where omegas were the magic protectors of a pack.” Peter’s eyes were lit up and he was looking at Stiles in such a way that sent warm tingles down his spine. 

Blushing, he looked down. “You really don’t mind? I mean...I tried to get someone to teach me once I started figuring out I could do things with mountain ash and runes but everyone kept saying it was ridiculous for an omega to think they could possibly add anything with magic.” 

“Stiles.” Peter’s warm fingers lifted up his chin. The look he got was pure want and desire now. It made him flush all the way down. “I have never believed in fate before or that the gods would care enough to put something in motion like this but you, sweetheart, are everything I have ever wanted in a mate. You are giving me the pack I dreamed of, the partner I barely hoped for, and now this. You are magnificent.” 

There was really only one response to that. Later, when they were tangled up together in bed, sated and half asleep. Stiles felt immeasurably happy. He had his sister and an alpha who respected him. “I love you.” 

Peter curled up tight around him at the words. “I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay! I managed to do something to my shoulder a couple weeks ago and even after three visits to the chiropractor I'm still getting pretty consistent pain through it and down my arm. Which also is leading to headaches. Which means all my writing had been slowed down...I think it's hopefully getting better so I should be posting more consistently again soon. :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the well wishes for my shoulder! It is finally starting to do better. :)

Peter knew that by now he shouldn’t really be surprised at anything Lydia or Stiles can do but he couldn’t help but gape a little at the room he was standing in. He turned to Lydia who had a smug smile on. “Do you like it?” The redheaded omega asked demurely. 

Snorting, he looked around the room again. “Lydia, this is incredible. You are officially planning every event the pack puts on, ever.” 

“Don’t let her take all the credit, Alpha Hale, I like to think I played my small role.” Natalie Martin strolled up to the two of them, a serene look on her face. 

“Of course, I would never belittle your accomplishments, Ms. Martin.” Peter said, giving Natalie one of his best smiles. The room was in what had been the old train depot back in the gold rush and logging days of Beacon Hills. It had been left abandoned for years until Natalie Martin had wrangled ownership of it with the money her ex-husband had been forced to give her during the divorce. 

Natalie Martin was the rare omega who had managed to avoid a werewolf marriage by snagging a wealthy, anti-wolf businessman. Peter didn’t know the details of the story but knew enough that she had leveraged the relationship for all its worth in keeping herself and her daughter out of the traditional omega spheres. Watching Stiles fly up to her and Lydia, chattering about how awesome the depot looked now, he smiled softly. It was obvious watching them, that Natalie Martin had a lot of influence on Stiles’ life and was likely a large part of the boy’s confidence in his secondary gender. 

He turned back to the room in general, once again impressed with how it had been renovated. It had already been partially there but with his added money Natalie had transformed it to an elegant event center. Her plan was to leverage Beacon Hills proximity to the large tourism that came through to the lakes and ski areas a bit north. The whole building was tastefully redone, keeping much of the original stonework but modernized in a way that spoke to wealth and affluence. Peter was pleased knowing that no one could complain they had been to a subpar ceremony venue. 

The mating ceremony between him and Stiles was in six days. Tomorrow, Talia and much of the rest of the Hales were set to arrive. The rest of the guests had been invited to come down two days before the ceremony. Lydia’s plan to leverage this to boost the economy of Beacon Hills as well as bring attention to its attractions were definitely working out as intended. A Hale mating ceremony (especially his) to an omega had quickly become the social event to go to. In order to preserve face, Talia had given him free reign with pack finances to fix whatever needing fixing in the town. 

Of course, Talia probably hadn’t been expecting him to have a meeting with the mayor and town council and let them decide where money should go. Peter grinned, remembering how grateful they all had been to him. The town was desperate for attention from the Hale pack. So many things had been neglected over the years because no one paid attention. Talia had relied entirely on Deaton to keep her informed and either the druid didn’t care or was intentionally causing problems. Peter had never liked Deaton so he certainly didn’t care which it was. 

Miriam crashing into him with a giggle pulled him back into the present. “Peter! Did you see the flowers? They are purple!” 

“I did see, kitten, do you like them?” 

“Yes! And Lydia says that even though I have to wear a dress for the ceremony that it’s purple and she got me leggings to go with it like I am Robin Hood.” 

“We will have to find you a purple forest then so you can properly hide and wait to ambush people.” Peter laughed at the scrunched up expression on her face that he got in response to that. Miriam’s arms were still wrapped around his waist and he took a moment to bask in the happiness she was leaking. 

“Don’t be stupid, Peter, purple forests aren’t a thing.” 

“Me, stupid? Is that any way to talk to your alpha, young lady?” He growled but kept his tone light and laughed again at the eye roll she gave him. They had come a long way in the past couple weeks and loved every minute of being with her. 

“If a person is stupid then they are stupid, it doesn’t mattter if they are an alpha or not.” She gave him a tighter squeeze then let go to dash off towards where Isaac was just climbing down from a ladder. The beta had been hanging fairy lights around the window edges and had to scramble to put everything down to catch the nine year old when she launched herself at him. 

“At least someone is enjoying this.” Stiles’ wry voice muttered behind him as long arms wrapped around his waist. His mate rested a chin on his shoulder and he closed his eyes to fully drink in Stiles’ scent. The omega’s scent was warm and happy which made all his instincts beam with pleasure. There was nothing more satisfying to an alpha’s instincts than the feeling of knowing your mate was provided for and happy. 

“I just hope she stays this happy once Talia and the entourage shows up.” Peter said, grimacing slightly at that sobering thought. 

Stiles kissed his neck gently. “It should be fine. We’re staying in a separate place for a reason and I know Natalie and Lydia have a whole plan to keep Miriam occupied and away from them.” 

“Right. Also, how did our entire color scheme get hijacked by the whims of a nine year old?” 

“Ha! I know, right? I did warn you that first night that if you let her, everything in the house would be purple. Besides I’m pretty sure Lydia’s going for more of a lilac color. Just be glad it’s not bright purple like that horrendous duvet cover you let Miriam get.” 

Peter felt himself flushing slightly and he grumbled his response. “You try telling her no when she gives you those pleading eyes.” 

Stiles laughed and kissed him again. “At some point you’ll have to tell her no or she’ll be way too spoiled.” 

Deciding not to respond to that Peter looked around the room again. He was very pleased with how everything was falling into place. Marin had made sure to invite everyone he needed there to entice to his side. Talia remained oblivious to what was truly going on. Stiles was turning out to be even better than he could have hoped for and Miriam was simply a joy to be around. The warm pack bonds from the new betas were also an unexpected warmth and comfort. 

Peter decided that the next day they should all definitely go hiking up to a waterfall in the National Park. Stiles was equally enthusiastic about the idea so they gathered up what pack members were interested in going and spent most of the day not in Beacon Hills. He also managed to forget his phone so when he got back to the house and saw the ten missed calls from Talia it really wasn’t his fault, was it? 

The day (four days before the ceremony) he bit the bullet and went to visit Talia at the main Hale house. Putting off Talia for one day was already pushing the limit on her patience so he knew they had to make the appropriate appearance today. As always, he took a moment to admire the beautiful building set deep into the forest. There was so much family history in this building. He couldn’t wait until it was his. He looked back over his shoulder where Stiles was scowling up the large house. 

“It’s like your family never heard the word restraint in your life.” His mate muttered under his breath while coming around the car to stand next to him. 

Taking Stiles’ hand in his own, he kissed the omega hungrily. Stiles’ lips parted easily for his own to come in and claim the mouth fully. It was with reluctance that he pulled back. “I can’t wait to take you in every room of this house so any wolf that ever enters will know it’s ours.” 

“I can’t decide if that’s creepy or romantic.” 

Before Peter could come up with a reply Derek had opened the front door and was glaring at them. “Would you two morons get in here already. Everyone’s out back.” 

They were ushered around to the back patio where the family was having breakfast. Derek slouched back into his seat, glaring at the assorted family members. Laura’s children shrieked at his entrance and were launching themselves at him before their mothers could do a thing about it. Max, the three year old, was the first to reach him. Peter barely had time to settle the boy on his shoulder before scooping up the two year old, Ava, to the other shoulder. Both toddlers latched into him with their tiny claws and shrieked their approval. Grace, the five year old, just climbed straight up his front to hold onto his neck. After rubbing her nose against his she shot Stiles a suspicious look. 

“Who are you? And why do you smell like Uncle Peter?” 

“Grace, this is my mate, Stiles. He smells like me for the same reason your mommy smells like your mom.” 

Grace wrinkled her nose and gave Stiles a slightly dark look. “You don’t have a mate.” 

He chuckled and bounced her slightly. “It’s new.” 

The girl opened her mouth to say something else but Talia interrupted. “Grace, that’s enough bothering your uncle right now. Peter, for gods sake, put them down so they can come finish their breakfast.” 

Making a face at his great niece, Peter set her down and walked the younger two with him to the table. “Good morning, family. Talia, sister dear, you are looking lovely as usual.” 

“Not as lovely as I would have looked if you had visited me yesterday on my first day here.” 

“Oh yes, I do apologize for that. I misunderstood your arrival time and it was such a lovely day we decided to go on a hike.” He finished this by sitting down next to the insistent Grace while giving his sister a large smile. 

Giving up on him, Talia turned her attention to Stiles. “Hello again Stiles, and welcome to the family.” 

“Thanks.” Stiles said, his voice dry. Peter raised an eyebrow at his sister, curious if she would perform introductions or not. It seemed not. The rest of the family shifted, now uncomfortable at the still standing omega next to the table. 

Rolling his eyes, Peter gestured at a chair by Melanie. “Please sit Stiles. This is Laura’s mate, Melanie. You’ve already met their offspring, Grace, Max and Ava. I also believe you’ve met Laura and Derek.” 

Laura gave Stiles a tight smile and Derek grunted while filling up his coffee again. Stiles half fell into the chair next to Melanie and gave the table a wide eyed smile before turning towards Peter’s other niece. “Hey, hi. You must be Cora.” 

“Yup.” Cora said, ignoring him otherwise. Peter felt himself relax a little. Nothing was out of the ordinary here or to give any impression that Cora and Derek knew anything more about Stiles. 

He turned his gaze now to his other sister who was watching the proceedings with a critical look on her face. Maggie was only two years younger than Talia and had five children of her own though none of them were currently present. Maggie’s husband Aaron was also there and ignored them all to continue eating. Peter performed simple introductions before turning back to Talia. 

“I assume that our ceremony planner sent over the schedule of everything?” 

“Yes, I’m actually a little impressed that you agreed to the full three day event. I expected to have to fight you every step of the way.” 

Peter shrugged. “I knew you’d throw a fit if I didn’t and Stiles knew Natalie was trying to start off her business with a big event so it was a win win situation.” 

“Natalie is the planner correct? The unmated omega.” Talia’s tone conveyed her thoughts on that perfectly. 

“You mean divorced woman who finally got away from her abusive asshole of a husband.” Stiles interjected cheerfully while stealing a strawberry off Derek’s plate. The beta growled and flashed his eyes at the omega. Stiles just opened his mouth and ate the strawberry in exaggerated bites. 

Talia’s smile turned slightly brittle. “Well, I can’t complain about the details. We saw the hall yesterday and it does look beautiful. No one will be able to say that my home territory is backwater after this event.” 

Laura jumped in eagerly. “It’s becoming the event of the year. I’ve had numerous friends call to try and wrangle an invite.” 

“That’s Natalie for you.” Stiles said cheerfully. “She’s like a force of nature once she gets going on things. Lydia’s been helping a lot too, you remember Lydia, right Laura?” 

Peter was fascinated to see his niece stiffen slightly. She shifted a little in her seat before replying. “Oh, is Lydia going to be here then? I thought she had left Beacon Hills.” 

“She had, she’s mated to Jackson now, but they are back for this. Lydia wanted to make sure my mating ceremony went off well and help her mom launch the new business. Jackson’s majoring in business and planning to work that side of things for them to keep buying old buildings to fix up and use for tourist things.” 

This finally caught Aaron’s attention. “That’s a very good idea. It brings a certain old world charm draw that a lot of the lake areas up north don’t have. Combined with this being the center of the Hale pack would also help.” 

Stiles nodded. “Exactly. Lydia says the historical committee is drafting plans for restoring some of the original town works as well to create a tour of sorts. I think they already talked to Peter about some of it.” 

“They did.” Peter added when everyone turned to look at him. “When I spoke to the city council about the requests for funds they mentioned their desire to focus more on the history of the town. I actually thought that maybe Derek could take lead on that.” 

Talia frowned. “Derek? Why?” 

Aaron rolled his eyes at his sister in law. “You know, because your son is working on his master degree in history?” 

Derek’s ears turned slightly pink and he stole the rest of the danish off Stiles’ plate. Talia looked startled for a brief moment before recovering. “Well, yes, I just didn’t think that his station and name would entitle him to a much more prestigious place than here.” 

Silence followed this statement. Stiles scowled at the table and Derek made a small twitch gesture towards the omega. Derek remained otherwise stoic and was careful to avoid his mother’s gaze. Aaron just scoffed lightly and turned his attention back to the food. Cora jumped in with wedding questions which everyone was quick to grab onto the new topic as well. Soon it transitioned over to who would be attending and Talia’s expectations for everyone’s behavior. Peter found himself tuning it all out. He entertained himself by playing ‘unsheath the claws and make tiny holes in the tablecloth’ game with Max and Ava. 

After breakfast he realized that by not paying attention he and Stiles had agreed to show his family around for the day. Stiles was apparently annoyed by this and spent the entire time only paying attention to Melanie and making faces at Grace who was still acting hostile to this new family member. He stayed closer to Aaron than he normally would have as his brother in law was being surprisingly non aggressive towards him this visit. It made him suspicious so he stuck close and tried to observe Aaron as much as possible. 

By the time dinner came around he was glad Stiles had spent the day with Melanie because Talia had become increasingly barbed in her comments about Beacon Hills. He was pretty sure the omega would not have been able to hold back and the two of them would have ended up in a shouting match in the middle of main street. Part of him thought that would be brilliant to watch but the more rational side acknowledged that at the moment it would cause more issues than they were ready to handle. 

“Where is Mel?” Laura’s voice brought him out of his amusing mental picture of Talia getting torn apart verbally by Stiles. Everyone turned to her in confusion. 

“I thought you had sent her back to the house and kids?” Talia said while gazing around the square as if the omega would just pop out of the ground. Peter had to hide his laugh as a cough. Judging by the glare leveled at him he hadn’t been very good at hiding it. 

“No. She just said she needed to sit for a minute and would catch up. I didn’t realize she hadn’t caught up until just now.” Laura’s eyes narrowed. “Stiles is missing too. Dammit, Peter if your omega is teaching mine bad habits…” 

Peter rolled his eyes. “Yes, in the last half an hour Stiles has somehow completely corrupted Melanie beyond saving. They are probably in the tea shop down that street. Stiles pointed it out to me the other day as one of his favorite places.” 

Laura growled and stomped off in the direction Peter had indicated. Talia sighed deeply. “Peter, you know Stiles was raised with all these strange ideas. Laura has a right to worry.” 

He shot his sister a deep condescending look before turning to follow his niece. Hopefully he could head off any potential meltdowns before they happened. As expected, Stiles and Melanie had gotten mugs of tea and were sitting outside of the little tea shop. Another older human was sitting with them and Melanie was smelling the most calm Peter had ever felt her. Laura was hovering a little ways away with a frown on her face. Walking up next to her he raised an eyebrow at the furious look she gave him. 

“What? What could they possibly be talking about with an old woman that is ‘corrupting’ your mate.”

She growled again. “Nothing.” 

Deciding to ignore his niece, he wandered over to the table and put on his most charming smile. The old woman raised an eyebrow at him then tutted towards Stiles. “Well, for a wolf, he could be worse.” 

Before Peter could take offense at this, Stiles threw back his head and laughed. “Sure could be worse. Thanks, Nan, oh hey, Laura’s here too.” 

Leaning against Stiles, Peter smirked down at him. “Hmm...yes, I could be so much worse.” 

It was the old woman’s turn to laugh. “Ah yes, this one will do nicely for you Mischief. Well, off with you both! You, young lady, come back sometime for that tea.” 

Melanie blushed and mumbled an affirmative before half fleeing the table towards Laura. For her part, Laura wrapped a possessive arm around her mate and stalked back towards where they had left the family. 

“What was that about?” Peter asked, frowning their retreating figures. 

Stiles shrugged. “No clue. We were just talking about teas to help omegas through heats and pregnancies. Nan had a lot of advice that I will not need for a very long time.” He said this last part with a firm look at the old lady in question. She just cackled and whapped him on the head. 

“Speak to your elders with respect, boy. You, wolf.” she grabbed his wrist and pulled it towards her. Amused and curious he didn’t put up any resistance. “You know what our Mischief has brought you?” 

For a moment he was about to give a flippant reply but it died in his throat. Her eyes seemed to stare straight into him. Wordlessly he nodded. She tapped the inside of his wrist twice then let go. Patting Stiles on the head one more time she turned and went back into the tiny shop. 

“Come on, alpha, let’s get going.” Stiles arm on his back startled him out of the strange trance he’d fallen into. Shaking his head of the fog he’d momentarily fallen into he let Stiles lead him back to the main street of the town. When they reached the rest of his family Stiles spun a masterful story of Miriam pining for him and somehow managed to extract from Talia’s dinner plans. 

“You are absolutely brilliant.” Peter said while pinning Stiles to the back of the front door of the house they were staying in. Not giving Stiles a chance to respond he captured his mate’s lips in a bruising kiss. Drowning the scent of Stiles’ arousal he dragged the boy back towards their room, shedding clothing as he went. 

“We have to be quick.” Stiles let out a throaty moan as Peter dug his teeth into a flush nipple. “Lydia’s bringing Miriam back in an hour.” 

“Baby, I don’t even need an hour.” 

The rest of the time was quickly lost in a haze of flesh and tongues. They somehow managed to get themselves back together enough for when Lydia sailed through the door with Miriam in tow. Lydia stayed long enough to help them come up with a game plan for how to manage the Hale family for the rest of the week. She left with a stern warning not to traumatize young minds. Peter rolled his eyes at her back. 

“I’m not that young...” Miriam’s angry mutter made him laugh. 

“It’s just Lydia poking at us. Don’t worry about it, little shadow.” Stiles told her cheerfully. 

The rest of the evening they spent watching Mulan, then Emperor’s New Groove. Peter never would have dreamed of watching either of those movies a month ago but with Stiles' commentary and Miriam’s giggles he found himself feeling perfectly content. 

The next morning he was surprised when Lydia showed up to go with them over to the Hale house. At his enquiring look, she smirked. “I’m taking Stiles into Redding to finish shopping with him and then I have the bachelorette party planned. I’m going to pull along Laura’s mate for the whole day as well.” 

“Laura will be opposed to that.” Peter said dryly, thinking of her objections to Melanie spending time with Stiles the day before. 

Lydia waved a hand in dismissal. “Oh, Marin’s already at the house and prepping the situation. We have this covered.” 

“Marin is here?” He felt surprised then a little annoyed. Deucalion had told him that they weren’t going to arrive until the two days before like most of the rest of the guests. 

“Yes, I called and we arranged it. Deuc’s not arriving until tomorrow but he specifically asked Talia if his mate could stay with them.” The redhead looked incredibly too smug and it made Peter deeply suspicious. 

Stiles didn’t even seem phased by the plotting. He was really going to have to work on his mate to remind the boy that any plotting not done by him should be viewed with trepidation. After a few more barbed comments to Lydia he let it go for now. He got disgruntled all over again, however, when he saw how easy it was for Lydia and Marin to swoop off with Melanie for the day. Based on the smirk Lydia gave him it was obvious the omega thought she had achieved some sort of victory over him. 

Talia had decided that today was the day to go over everyone attending the wedding and expectations she had about Peter. His lip curled when he saw that Deaton was present. It had been difficult for him and Stiles to decide to let Deaton be the one to officiate their ceremony. In the end they knew it would look more legitimate if the official Hale emissary was the Druid present. He couldn’t wait until he was able to have his own emissary and he could be done with the vague bullshit Deaton peddled. 

Sighing, he slouched deep as he could into the couch. It was one day of putting up with this ridiculousness from Talia and Deaton. He could handle it. Soon, it would be him and Stiles making the decision for their pack and land. Anticipation thrummed through him and he smiled at the thought. So very soon.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for near the end of the chapter another alpha says some nasty things to Stiles and then tries to use physical intimidation over him.

Stiles tried to sink deeper into the chair at the fancy restaurant Lydia had chosen for lunch during their shopping trip. He was starving and it was looking unlikely he would get food quickly in a place like this. They had already spent an agonizingly long time debating wine choices with the server and had only just ordered a few appetizers. It didn’t help matters that Marin and Lydia were clearly up to something and had both refused to give him any hints as to what it was. 

Giving the recently poured wine a sour look he comforted himself with the knowledge that Melanie was as much in the dark as he was. Also, the shopping was over which was a relief. He loved Lydia but shopping with her twice in the same month was seriously pushing the limit on his ability to put up with her desire to run his life. Most of the things she cared about he didn’t so he was content to let her have her way. There was still a limit to this before he was ready to go back to his way of living. 

The server came in the middle of these musings to place a charcuterie board down on the table and it took a great amount of self control for him not to immediately scoop up half the meat into his mouth. He contented himself with a few bites for the moment while Marin began a lecture on how the wine complemented that particular type of meat. Waiting until Lydia and Marin were distracted again by their carefully planned out schedule he snuck another piece of meat. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Melanie eyeing the food so he carefully started nudging the platter closer to his fellow Hale omega. 

“So, uh, what’s it like living with Talia?” He was aiming for nonchalance but was pretty sure he had failed. 

Melanie shifted uncomfortably in her seat and shot a nervous gaze around the restaurant. “It’s...nice for the children to be near their grandmother.” 

He couldn’t help the snort that escaped him. Seeing her alarmed look he tapped the table in front of her. “Don’t worry about people overhearing us. I have a little charm made up that covers our table. Any wolf or other shifter will only be able to hear vague noises up to about a foot away from the table.” 

“You have magic?” Her eyes were wide. He shrugged and pushed the food closer to her again. 

“Yup. Most omegas do, we are just told we don’t or if we do it’ll never be as powerful as a druid’s power so no one ever teaches us to use it.” 

Looking conflicted she picked up an olive with one of the toothpicks. “I...well, it would also conflict with an omega’s duty to their pack.” 

“You mean having kids? You can’t tell me that the Hale’s don’t have other people cooking and cleaning for them.” 

She blushed and looked down. “Well...yes, they do but still, it’s my duty to oversee the whole household since Talia is mated to a beta and not an omega.” 

“Do you like overseeing the household?” 

The confused frown he got in response to the question spoke volumes. “Of course. It is my duty. It pleases me to do my duty.” 

“Let me guess, you went to one of those omega schools, right?” 

“Yes, I was an orphan, sponsored by the Hale family like Miriam is. I am very lucky that they chose me for Laura’s mate. It is a great honor for someone like me to be able to mate into an established family like the Hales.” 

He made a face but wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Using the food as a stalling tactic he ate some more, ignoring the judgemental look Lydia leveled at him, before responding to Melanie. “Yeah, but, you know, do you actually like it? Being an omega for the Hales?” 

Melanie’s fingers smoothed over wrinkles in the tablecloth for a moment before she looked up and gave him a hard look. “I love my children. Laura is good to me as is Talia. Don’t look at me and see a rescue mission just because I like what I am and you don’t.” 

He winced and sat back. “Sorry. I...sorry. I’m a bit of an ass sometimes. Just ask Lydia.” 

Thankfully their next course of soup showed up and he was able to turn his attention to Marin, asking her about protocols for greeting people. He’d pushed Melanie too hard and she had a point. He really shouldn’t shit on someone’s life just because he’d hate to be living it. Subtly was not one of his strong points but he’d have to work on it with Melanie. He knew Peter wanted the two of them to get alone because Peter really did love those kids. 

After lunch Lydia brought them all back to Beacon Hills and dropped him off to change before their evening plans. Apparently the next day there would be an actual omega shower with all the attending omega’s attending while Peter had an alpha party. Stiles wondered which would be worse. But tonight was a night for friends to celebrate the upcoming mating ceremony. They were throwing tradition to the wind and having both him and Peter present for it. 

They had rented out the one club/bar in Beacon Hills, the Jungle and it felt a bit like half the town was there. Erica had taken over game planning which meant there were a lot of drinking games mixed with wildly inappropriate guessing games. The party lasted late and it was almost midnight by the time he and Peter made it back into their temporary lodging. Peter was on him almost before the door was shut. 

The alpha had him boxed up against the door with his hands pinned over his head and Stiles was sure he was going to come just from this. Peter’s mouth was sucking deep bruises into his neck while the other hand was busy rucking up his shirt to get to his nipples. All his nerves were on fire and Peter’s hot hands and even hotter mouth set everything inside him alight. 

“Oh fuck, Peter, need you alpha, need you so much. Need you to fill me up, fuck me open.” 

Peter growled into his throat before releasing the hands only to rip his shirt off completely. The next few minutes was just tangled clothes, hot kisses, fervent touches and a few muttered swear words as they made their way down the hallway. By the time Peter got him completely naked he was wet and begging for contact. Swearing, Peter got himself unzipped and cock out then just lifted Stiles up and practically slammed him back down, spearing him open on his cock in one thrust. 

Crying out, Stiles’ head hit the wall behind him while Peter, using the wall for leverage, started brutally thrusting into him. Both of Peter’s hands had a bruising grip on his hips and the alpha’s eyes were bright red as he fucked up into his mate. Stiles scrambled for something to hold onto but could barely focus as intense pleasure rocked its way through his body. He was pretty sure he was still talking but had no idea what the spiral of words coming out of his mouth were saying. 

Everything in him was focused on alpha, mate, mine and the burning sensation of being fucked raw and open. Peter came with a howl and locked himself inside Stiles, spilling his release deep into his mate. Still continuing to make tiny thrusts in, the alpha leaned forward to nibble and lick his way over Stiles’ torso. Stiles moaned and twitched at the extra stimulation. He wasn’t even sure when he had come himself but the approving rumbles Peter was making while licking up the come on his stomach was getting him hard again. 

Legs trembling, he tightened their hold around Peter’s waist and looked down to meet red eyes staring up at him. “Oh gods…” 

Chuckling, Peter gave another hungry lick up his sternum, stopping to twirl a nipple between tongue and teeth. Stiles mewled and bucked up while Peter ground his knot harder into his body. 

“Can you come for me again? My pretty omega, come on pet, come for me.” Peter reached up and bit the edge of his neck with blunt human teeth as he started to roughly pump Stiles’ used cock. 

“Gods… Peter...fuck…” The orgasm built itself up slowly. Urgent licks, nips and the ever present stimulation inside of him finally burst out. Letting out a loud cry he came again before shuddering and going limp against his mate. Peter rested his head against Stiles’ collarbone, panting for a moment before he settled Stiles more securely against him to carry into the bedroom. 

The next morning brought with it long, lazy sex before they forced themselves to get up and prepare for the brunch Talia was hosting for welcoming guests. It was the start of what Stiles believed was going to be an excruciatingly long three days. The only upside to the whole thing was that as soon as the ceremony was completed he and Peter could leave immediately. Unlike for human weddings where the party happened afterwards in werewolf matings the party was beforehand. 

Talia had set up tables and tents outside the Hale house for the day and made them stand in front to greet everyone as they came through. Stiles found himself being immensely jealous of his pack as all of them except Lydia and Jackson got to duck out of the day’s events. He’d sent Miriam with them as well because there was no reason to make her go through this torture. 

Greeting every visiting werewolf and human as they came in was just as mind numbing as he had assumed it would be. Thankfully, all he was expected to was just to stand there and gaze adoringly at Peter while the alpha did all the talking. Talia stood with them for part of the morning but left to go convene with a couple alphas not long into it. As it was, he had pretty much zoned out and was just going on autopilot when a familiar voice snapped him back into awareness. 

“Congratulations on your upcoming mating.” Scott McCall said with an earnest expression on his face. 

Peter’s gaze turned icey and he eyed the beta werewolf for a moment. Ignoring the offered hand, he looped an arm around Stiles’ waist, pulling the omega in closer to him. “If you had paid any attention to werewolf culture you would know we are already mated. The ceremony is merely the official declaration of the mating.” 

Scott flushed slightly but the rebuke didn’t seem to deter him. “Of course. Stiles, it’s good to see you again.” 

“Really?” Stiles couldn’t help but snort. 

Looking mildly flustered now, Scott flicked his eyes around. Probably looking for an ally somewhere. “Uh, yeah, of course. I’m glad you finally found someone. I guess the Hales aren’t so bad after all, right?” 

Stiles rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything else. He didn’t trust himself not to rip into Scott and cause a scene. As much as he wanted to do that he knew it wasn’t the time or place. It also wouldn’t change anything. What had happened was done now and there wasn’t a way to fix it or fix his relationship with Scott at this point. 

Peter gave Scott a shark grin. “I am pleased that you are willing to give my family such a ringing endorsement Beta McCall. One would think you would be more polite towards your pack alpha than to refer to her as ‘not so bad’.” 

“What? No, I meant Stiles deciding that. Not me! I think Alpha Hale, I mean Alpha Talia is an amazing alpha and I’ve always thought the Hale pack was awesome. They were so helpful after the rogue came through and really helped me and the town. I’m honored to be in your pack, Alpha Hale, well, I mean I’m in Alpha Talia’s pack, but you’re in it too, right? I mean…” Scott trailed off, now flushed completely. There were several chuckles from the people behind the beta in line and another alpha off to their right even laughed out right. 

“Oh that’s very sweet of you to say, Beta McCall. I’m glad to know my sister is doing such an excellent job at teaching pack dynamics to her bitten betas. Rung along now, you’re holding up the line.” Peter’s tone was smooth and dismissive. Scott opened his mouth as if to object but then Peter flashed red eyes and Scott immediately mumbled some sort of apology before practically sprinting away. 

The apha who had been behind Scott came up with an eye roll. “I see manners are still a problem for Talia’s betas. I do hope you plan to teach your betas to be better than that, Peter.” 

Talia appeared at their side as if by magic. “Alpha Crowder, it’s wonderful to see you again. I apologize on behalf of my beta. I believe his history with Peter’s omega colored that interaction.” 

The alpha smirked at Talia. “No offense taken Alpha Hale. But thank you very much for the apology, maybe your betas won’t all be hopeless cases after all.” 

Talia’s smile turned forced and Stiles had to cough to hide his smirk. The alpha was on the taller side, thin but well muscled. He stood almost lazily but in such a way that one could tell he’d be ready to fight in an instant. This was the only alpha, other than Deucalion, that Stiles had met so far that screamed of predator in his every move. 

“I do hope you aren’t the type to let one bad interaction affect your opinion of an entire pack.” Peter said, interjecting smoothly into the conversation. 

Alpha Crowder shifted ever so slightly in Peter’s direction. “Of course not, Alpha Hale. Though I do stand by my statement that I expect much more out of your betas when they happen. Especially as you were so judicious in claiming an omega immediately.” 

Somehow Talia became even stiffer. “I can’t imagine why you think my brother would be looking for betas. He not only is my family but one of my most important pack members. He has no need to look outside his pack for stability.” 

“No? Apologies, I just assumed that as any alpha with an omega mate, especially one with such fire as this one, would be looking to start a pack of their own.” As he was speaking, the alpha had swept red eyes up and down Stiles’ body. It took all his willpower not to speak up. He’d never felt so dismissed in his life and had the strong urge to tear this alpha to shreds. 

“I assure you, Peter is fine as he is.” Talia’s words were clipped. The smile had left her face and even Stiles could feel the anger emanating off her. 

“My mistake then.” The alpha gave one last nod to Peter before strolling towards the food table. 

There was a long awkward silence in the wake of whatever the hell that was before the next person got brave enough to come forward. There weren’t many more guests to greet after this which Stiles was incredibly grateful for. After the guests had been greeted he was dismissed to go into the house to mingle with all the omegas while the alphas, betas and humans stayed outside. Even though he had known this was coming it still rankled to be so dismissed as anything useful. 

Lydia was on him as soon as he entered the house and immediately caught his bad mood. She took over from there in guiding him around to reintroduce him to all the omegas. There weren’t that many as most alphas (or beta wolves) would leave their mates at home with the children. Only the higher profile wolves brought their mates to events like this. This was both good in that it meant he had less names to remember but bad in that the omegas that were here saw themselves as far above him in rank. By the end of the first hour he was sure he was going to punch the next person who made some disparaging comment about his ‘roots’. 

His distress must have been evident enough because at the hour and a half mark Melanie hustled him out of the main room. The study he was dragged into immediately distracted him with its walls of old books. It wasn’t until Melanie cleared her throat pointedly that he realized she was still in the room. 

“Uh, yes?” He said, giving her a sheepish look. 

“You need to figure out how to be nicer.” 

“To whom?” Feeling genuinely confused he flopped into one of the inordinately plush armchairs. Seriously, he was never leaving this room again. 

“Everyone. All the comments you are making are not appreciated.” 

Now he was really lost. “Comments?” 

“Yes!” Melanie actually threw her hands into the air and started pacing. “All the comments about restrictions on omegas and how you wonder what the alphas talk about or insulting werewolves for just blindly following orders!” 

Squishing himself further into the chair he contemplated the past hour and half. Had he really been that bad? Thinking back on his conversations, he winced, yeah ok he had been getting more snarky as the time had gone on. He scowled at the bookshelves. How dare they judge him for his sarcasm. 

“I’ll be nicer when they all stop judging me for my inferior breeding or lack of an education. Also, you have a lot of gall to tell me to be nice when omega what’s her face just told me that the only reason Peter picked me was because he was clearly desperate. Yeah, no, fuck them.” 

Melanie took several deep breaths before sitting down in one of the other chairs. “Stiles, you are coming from a very different place than they are. They are all established mates of powerful alphas. Peter doesn’t even have his own pack and land. They are allowed to be this way but you are not. If you don’t want to cause trouble for Peter and Talia you will hold yourself back.” 

“All right. I’m not going back out then.” 

“What?” 

“You heard me. These books are way more interesting than anyone in there besides Lydia or Marin, anyway. I’m staying in here.” He met her shocked gaze with a glare. 

“You can’t do that.” 

“Yes I can. Also, where is all this coming from? You know the first day when we were walking I thought we really made a connection, you and I. You met nan and everything. You even agreed with me it was wrong for Miriam to be in that school! Then yesterday and today suddenly everything is about being the perfect omega pet.” 

She flinched away from him, almost curling up in herself. It made him sit up with concern but before he could ask her what was wrong she was already up on her feet and moving out of the room. The door slammed shut and he let out a strangled groan as he tried to smother himself with one of the chair pillows. 

This whole thing was more difficult than he had expected. He’d had no idea how complicated this ceremony was going to get. Shit. He really hoped that his behavior wouldn’t jeopardize anything in regards to Peter’s bid for Beacon Hills. Hopefully the alphas already annoyed at Talia wouldn’t care enough if their omegas were insulted. Feeling a little dejected he pulled out a book at random to read. It was about the magical properties of moss and soon he was completely distracted from all his morose thoughts. 

Some time later the door opened again. Looking up the apology died on his lips when the alpha from earlier, Crowder, walked into the room. Cautiously, he straightened up and carefully set the book aside. The alpha raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything as he moved to sit in the empty chair across from Stiles. Feeling distinctly uncomfortable but unwilling to give up his hiding spot, he just raised an eyebrow back at the alpha. The silence stretched on for several long moments. His heart felt uncommonly loud as every beat seemed to echo through the room. Crowder, finally, leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and broke the silence. 

“I heard you were unusual but even with that warning I wouldn’t have expected to find you in a place like this.” 

The calculating gaze made him want to squirm and hide. He forced himself to stay still and meet the alpha’s eyes straight on. If a feral alpha threatening his life couldn’t make him back then this self entitled dick wouldn't either. He flicked his eyes away from the alpha to examine his fingernails idly. It was a trick he had seen Lydia use countless times and it never failed to irritate the unfortunate soul she used it on. 

“Unusual has a bit of a broad meaning so it shouldn’t be too surprising for me to do the unexpected.” 

The feral grin he got in response to that only served to put his senses on even higher alert. “Little pet has a bite to him. Tell me, omega, does that fire serve you well when you’re speared on your alpha’s cock? Or does Peter enjoy the work on putting you in your place.” 

He stared incredulously at the alpha in front of him before letting out a snort. “Oh wow, my gods, I can’t believe you actually went there.” Stretching out his limbs he rolled his eyes and snorted again. “Speared on my alpha’s cock. Ha. Can’t wait until Peter hears that one. What’s the matter, your dick jealous? Not found an omega yet willing to put up with your particular blend of arrogant asshole? Oh wait...it’s not the omega you have to woo, right, it’s the father. So…” He smirked at the alpha. “...not found some human father of an omega who was impressed enough with your cock?” 

With one fluid movement, Crowder was standing over him with red eyes and fangs showing. “Careful omega, just because you’ve blackmailed your way into the Hale pack doesn’t mean the rest of us will bow our heads to a mouthy shit who needs to be taught manners.” 

Not even bothering to respond to that he pretended to cower as he brought up his elbow and then slammed in straight into the alpha’s crotch. As Crowder doubled over in pain and surprise he had surged upwards slamming the spine of his book into the alpha’s throat. The momentum of his swing, combined with his other elbow slamming into the alpha’s stomach caused Crowder to fall to the ground. The alpha was up almost immediately with a snarl but the few seconds had given him the chance to pull out the aerosol spray of wolfsbane he kept on hand. The alpha collapsed again with an agonized cry. Just for good measure, he then slammed his foot down on the alpha’s face. There was a satisfying crack as the nose was broken. 

Backing away, he shook his head. “Look, I have no quarrel with you or any other guests here. I don’t know what it is that you shitty alphas think you talk like that to anyone but it ends with me. Threaten me or any of my pack again and I’ll do something permanent next time.” 

He left the room before the alpha could recover enough to respond. Shaking with anger he stormed outside, not caring if he was breaking protocol. He was so done with this stupid shit and he didn’t give a fuck who knew it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The updates are going to be slow from here out. I think once a week is going to be my goal. My problem, I have realized, is that I didn't really plan enough plot so I'm struggling with how to fill this without just getting straight to the end with the characters not doing anything on the way there. So it's slow writing because of that. We should get to the actual ceremony next chapter unless Talia and Deaton scheme too much.


	9. Chapter 9

Peter knew something was wrong before he saw Stiles charging out of the house. He’d been feeling his mate’s rising anger for the past few hours but it had been fairly easy to ignore up until that moment. They had known that this wouldn’t be easy on Stiles but his mate knew how important this was to make such a public showing of their mating. As furious rage came down the bond he began to wonder if he had underestimated Stiles’ limit when it came to traditional omega expectations. Internally cursing his complete reliance on Lydia and Marin to keep Stiles calm, he rushed to intercept the omega before another alpha could get in his path. 

He was unsuccessful. Talia got there first. Cursing his sister to hell in his mind he got to them just as she grabbed Stiles’ arm in what looked like a bruising grip. “What are you doing?” Talia said, her red eyes flashing. Stiles reared back from her. The smell of ozone started to light up the air. All the hairs on Peter’s body stood straight up. 

“I am going on a walk. I didn’t know I had to get permission to do such normal things.” Stiles’ voice was pure ice and rage. 

“You do when you are breaking protocol. It is not decent for an omega to be out here right now. Go back inside the others.” Talia said these last words with a hint of fang showing and snarl in her voice. 

The smell of ozone grew thicker. “Not decent? Well, is it decent for an alpha to go inside? Is it decent and allowed for an alpha to threaten an omega in your very home? Oh wait, you’ve never had an omega so maybe you don’t know.” 

Peter felt a headache forming. Talia’s face shifted to one of complete rage and he could hear the stilted gasps from the werewolves in attendance. The entire guest list was hanging on every word of this interaction and he was starting to get worried about their chances to get out of it before someone drew blood. Then Stiles’ words ran back through his head and he focused through the smell of ozone and froze. There was a distinct scent of another alpha on Stiles. 

Shoving Talia aside with a snarl he took an urgent sniff of his mate before growling and turning to charge into the house. Talia tried to grab him but failed. Just as he was about to reach the door, it opened to reveal Alpha Crowder making his way out. The alpha froze at the sight of Peter in beta shift. The alpha had still healing burn marks over his face which made Peter smirk in glee. He had known Stiles carried the wolfsbane mace but had never seen the effects of it. It wouldn’t stop him from his intended goal of beating the complete shit out of the alpha who had dared to touch his mate. Crowder saw Peter’s intent and snarled back, letting fangs drop and the shift come out. 

A hand on his arm had him snarling right into the face of Deucalion. His friend gave a gentle tug while raising an eyebrow. “Stand down, Peter. It looks like your omega already put the upstart in his place. No need for further bloodshed today.” Acknowledging the truth of this did not make him feel better about letting his fangs retract and taking a step back. Crowder cautiously finished exiting the house but stayed a little ways away from the larger group that was gathering. 

Talia stormed up between Crowder and him. Her eyes were blazing red and she glared at them all. “What is going on here?” 

“What’s going on is that alpha werewolves are apparently great bags of dicks to even mated omegas. Good to know it’s not just unmated ones. Equal opportunity dickishness to go around to everyone.” Stiles said from behind Peter, even as the omega was moving forward to stand next to him. Deucalion huffed a quiet laugh, shaking his head at the omega’s audacity. 

Peter managed to grab Stiles before the boy could charge past him to confront Talia or Crowder head on. Pulling his mate to his side, he buried his face into Stiles neck, breathing in the omega’s scent for a long moment. Stiles acquiesced to the scenting with only cursory grumbling, which Peter decided to take as a good sign. Crowder’s voice pulled him out of the moment to pay attention again. 

“I would apologize for the fuss, alpha Hale, but it seems that your little omega here is as insolent as your betas. It is no wonder your control over your territories is so shaky, with the lack of regard for proper customs your pack has.” The alpha’s voice was smooth and a small smirk played across his mouth. Peter felt his hackles rising at both the words said and the hungry look the alpha was still giving Stiles. 

Talia’s own eyes flared bright red. “I apologize for Omega Stilinski. As this has obviously been a heated moment, I will forgive your insult towards me, this once.” 

“Apology not accepted.” It was as if the entire backyard full of people held their breath at Crowder’s words. “I demand satisfaction for the insult your omega gave me.” 

Feeling a snarl work its way up his throat, Peter moved forward. Talia was just standing still, looking slightly stunned. If he wasn’t so enraged at the way Crowder was treating Stiles he might have taken the time to enjoy the stupefied look on his sister’s face. It had been a long time since anyone had challenged her like this. Deucalion managed to step in front of him just as he reached Talia. The older alpha gave him a look that stopped him short, before Deucalion turned to address Crowder. 

“What satisfaction do you require, Alpha Crowder?” 

Crowder’s grin was almost feral. “I would challenge Alpha Hale for her claim on this territory. Through her neglect, this once fertile land is losing its strength of magic.” 

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Talia said, sounding outraged. “This is not how we do things. We have moved beyond such uncivilized shows of dominance. The council exists for a reason. If you wish to put a claim in for it, then do so in two weeks.” 

“And now you forget some of our oldest laws, Talia. You are correct that now we use, as you put it, more civilized ways. However, there is an old tradition that if an alpha has good reason to object at a mating ceremony, they may challenge the pack alpha for both their land...and the omega.” Crowder rocked back on his heels at the end of this, a self-satisfied look on his face. 

Frantic whispers broke out behind them. Peter felt absolutely shocked at the audacity of Crowder. Looking at Talia, he could tell she was shocked as well. Deucalion too, was surprised though he recovered quickly. Tilting his head to the side, the older alpha hummed as he considered the words. 

“Alpha Crowder is correct. There is precedent for a moment like this. If Alpha Talia Hale wishes to refuse the challenge then this land of Beacon Hills will be forfeit to Alpha Crowder.” The shocked whispers grew louder. Peter forced himself to take several deep breaths. Stiles had moved as well and he let his mate’s steady heartbeat calm him. 

“I…” Talia paused, looking so lost for a moment that Peter almost felt sorry for her. She really had one option and everyone there knew it. There was no way that she could let this challenge go unanswered. She could try and delay, with the goal to put it in front of the council but any respect for her would be gone. However, he didn’t know when the last time Talia had fought anyone. Most alpha’s only learn basic defense techniques and few ever continue to practice. When werewolves modernized, the need to defend your territory and pack has become antiquated. That Crowder found the one loophole in this spoke to potentially years of planning. 

He let his gaze linger on his sister again. She really only had one option, there was a reason packs still had a left hand. Talia straightened up and spoke again in a more confident voice. “I accept your challenge, Alpha Crowder. However, since the challenge is being made over the actions of Omega Stilinski, and since the intended mate of his is an alpha of my pack, Alpha Peter Hale shall defend his omega and my territory.” 

“I accept your amendment to the challenge, Alpha Talia. I assume the challenge will be fought at dusk, as is customary?” At Talia’s stiff nod, Crowder smiled again. “Wonderful. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I do believe I have worked up an appetite from all this talking.” 

Silence fell over the rest of the guests for a long minute. Talia turned to Peter, her eyes still crimson. He nodded at her and reached back around for Stiles. The omega didn’t say anything in protest as Peter began to pull him towards the house. Deucalion and Deaton were close on their heels. Once inside, they silently made their way into the study, to talk out the issues with a closed door. As the door shut, Talia glared at Deucalion. 

“I am confused by your presence, Alpha Blackwood.” 

“I simply assumed that having another member of the council here might help as we discuss how to handle this surprising event.”   
Growling, Talia paced in a tight circle around the room. Her eyes were still bright red and both the wolves in the room could scent the confusion and rage pouring off of her. Trading a look, Peter shuffled Stiles over to a chair while Deucalion moved closer to the agitated alpha. “Talia, this is unlike you. I understand you are upset but you need to calm down.” 

With one last snarl, Talia went to lean forward on the desk. “Stiles. How could you do this?” She said, her tone low and threatening. Stiles' scent turned to surprise, then anger. 

“Seriously? You’re going to blame me for this? Yeah, hell no. That asshole cornered me in the library, made some threats about putting me in my place and I’m smart enough to know what that means when coming from an alpha. So I kicked him in the balls, sprayed him with wolfsbane and went outside. Not apologizing, asshole deserved it.” 

“Whether he deserved it or not is not relevant.” Talia turned back around and glared at the unrepentant omega. “You should never have gone somewhere to be placed in such a compromising position! If such a situation is unavoidable, you leave as soon as an alpha makes their presence known. You do not challenge the alpha. You do not fight the alpha. You stupid, uselss child, do you not realize what you’ve done?” 

The temperature in the room felt suddenly ten degrees colder. Talia had been advancing towards Stiles as she spoke, but froze in place as the omega stood up. Looking at his mate, Petr froze as well. Stiles’ eyes were lit up gold, the air around him seemed to crackle with energy. The omega moved forward until he was a foot away from Talia. Peter glanced over and saw both Deucalion and Deaton looked to be in shock as well. 

“What I’ve done is defended myself. What I’ve done is what I’ve always done. You are the one who chose ambition and power over land and pack, Talia Hale. You are the one who forgot the ways of your ancestors and helped spread this lie that omegas are nothing more than denmakers. You decided to believe lies and miss what was right in front of your face. Your emissary dismissed me as useless. You ignored my wishes in regards to my sister. You have brought this upon yourself. Crowder is correct, you are weak.” 

No one in the room seemed to know how to respond to this. Talia still seemed frozen in some sort of shock. Deaton stared at Stiles like he couldn’t believe the omega was real. Deucalion looked a bit like the cat that caught the canary. Peter just felt a little overwhelmed and wanted to take his mate somewhere safe. Gradually, the energy in the air abated somewhat as Stiles calmed down. 

“Ok,” Stiles said, breaking the silence, “Here is what we are going to do. Deuc, tell us everything about this precedent that let Crowder issue this challenge. We need to know what other loopholes this asshat is planning to exploit. Talia, you should go back out there and get the feel of the room. See what the reactions are and who is on our side vs. Crowder’s side. Deaton...well, you’re a slipper bastard, help Deuc. Peter, listen to Duec, then Talia when she gets back and then you’ll need to go do some networking as well.” 

Feeling amused now, Peter leaned against the back of one of the armchairs in the room. “Can we work in a fifteen minute break? I have the urgent need to fuck you senseless. You’re very attractive right now.” 

His words seemed to snap the rest of the group out of their daze. Talia blinked at Stiles again before walking by them and out of the room. As the door was shutting, Lydia Martin and Marin came in. 

“Well, you certainly overdid it a bit, Stiles, I could feel your magic through the whole house.” 

“Sorry…” Stiles winced and rubbed at the back of his head. 

“Please don’t apologize.” Deucalion said, murmuring the words with a sharp grin. “It was magnificent, darling. I’m with Peter on this one, if you ever feel up to a third in your sexual relationship that is.” 

Peter chuckled at the scandalized look on Stiles’ face. “At least wait until we’ve been mated for over a month, Deuc. Now, come on, lay it on us about Crowder and this insanity.” 

The next few hours passed in a blur of information passing and plotting sessions. Talia was quiet for the most part, letting Peter and Deucalion take the lead. She kept giving Stiles searching glances throughout the day, almost as if she had never seen him before. Stiles had rallied well in the face of an actual crisis and Peter couldn’t help but give him increasingly hungry looks as the day went by. He could more clearly than before see how Stiles had been a strong enough presence to stabilize the small pack. His mate was magnificent like this, he was fairly certain he was falling more in love with Stiles by the moment. 

The general feeling towards Crowder seemed to be annoyance. The alpha was from Kentucky and had been ingratiating himself with the higher parts of werewolf society for just over a year. Most of the attempts hadn’t been too successful. The only reason the alpha had been able to claw his way up the ladder was from the support of a few of the richer alphas from the Kentucky/Louisiana area. The general belief was that Crowder was running illegal drug trafficking for the other alphas. It seemed as if Crowder had grown tired of whatever deal he had with them and was looking for a power boost of his own. 

Targeting Talia wasn’t a bad play. Ever since the scandal of the rogue alpha had come out, her power was on rocky ground. There were more than a few council members who thought she was stretching herself too thin. Her passing the burden of the challenge to her brother was, as Peter predicted, another nail in that particular coffin. People loved judging others for their own weaknesses, he thought sardonically, watching a small bundle of werewolves talking in hushed tones. There were maybe a handful of alphas that would be capable of taking Crowder on in a fight, yet they were all judging Talia for being unable to do so herself. At least it was working to his favor. 

The rest of his pack were quietly showing up at random intervals throughout the day. Jackson had been the first to arrive, along with his father and the town mayor. The two humans' presence had caused a lot of the confused murmuring to increase. David Whittemore had been quick to cite the town charter which stated in the event of a challenge it was the right of the town leaders to be present. 

Isaac and Erica were currently shadowing Stiles as the omega flitted back and forth between the humans and werewolves. Deaton was overseeing the creation of the traditional challenge ring with Boyd hovering nearby to watch. The older druid had given Boyd a sour look but otherwise didn’t object to the younger druid’s presence. Lydia was reigning queen inside the house with the other omegas. Natalie had shown up with Miriam and they were now also both inside the house. 

Having Miriam there was making Peter feel more twitchy about the whole thing. At least with Stiles he knew the omega had magic and practice to defend himself against werewolves. Miriam was so young and fragile. He was finding himself swinging through the house every twenty minutes or so to check in on her. She seemed happy enough, upstairs with Laura and Melanie’s kids, though every time he came in she was quick to spring up for a hug. 

It was right after one of these check-ins that Stiles found him, hovering in the kitchen. He was scowling at the outside, not wanting to have to go back out there and deal with more stupid alphas trying to not so subtly ask him questions about Stiles. 

“Hey…” Stiles moved up on his side to press into his neck. Releasing a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, he turned to bury his face into Stiles’ hair for a moment. They just stood there like that for a while, finding comfort in one another. “So, uh, I won’t ever say this to Talia, but I am sorry for causing such a problem…” 

Growling lightly, Peter pulled back. “Sweetheart, as you so rightly stated earlier, none of this is your fault. What Talia was doing is victim blaming at its finest. I think we are right to say that Crowder had this planned from the beginning.” Taking a deep shaky breath, Stiles wrapped arms around his middle. He was happy to hold the omega against him. 

“I...just didn’t want to cause trouble for you.” 

“You did not cause trouble. If anything this may help us in the end. Besides, I can’t wait to knock that smug asshat, as you delightfully called him, into the ground. I’m going to tear him to pieces.” 

A sharp intake of breath, followed by the sweet smell of arousal had him growling again. He greedily sucked in the scent of his mate and pathetically wished the house was not so full of creatures with heightened hearing. Not that it was a complete deterrent for him. The idea of fucking his mate when everyone could hear sent a certain type of thrill racing through him. However, dealing with the fallout of that with Talia or the other council members was not something he wanted to add onto his already hectic day. Plus, there was still one more conversation he needed to have before the challenge. 

It was easy to gather Talia and Deaton back into the soundproofed study. Talia gave him a questioning look when the mayor and David Whittemore were ushered in but offered no objection. Good, that was one hurtle gone over. Other than the two humans, alpha and druid, it was just Peter and Stiles present for this conversation. Once the door was shut, Peter eyed his sister carefully. There was a part of himself that had been her beta not long ago, that struggled against doing this. His whole life he had been trained to follow her lead, it felt wrong to so blatantly go against her. But then he remembered that school where he had found Miriam. How his sister’s pettiness had caused such pain and his resolve hardened. 

“I am here as a courtesy to you, Talia, as my sister and former alpha. I want to offer you a way out of this situation with saving what face you can. No,” He said, holding up a hand to stop her from speaking, “please don’t interrupt, let me say my piece. After I defeat Crowder I want you to declare that this whole situation has made you reflect on the state of things in your pack. Upon that reflection you have decided to cede the territory and county of Beacon Hills over to me. For me to form my own pack on it and to take responsibility for the lands.” 

Talia swayed where she stood, reaching behind her, she gripped the edge of the wooden desk to keep herself upright. “Peter...what?” Shock was written all over her face. 

He ran a hand over his face, grimacing. “It’s time, Talia, and somewhere inside you, you know it. You can’t keep up with this giant pack you are building and things will slip through the cracks. Like the rogue alpha, like Miriam. You can either cede it to me in grace, save some face, hopefully keep your position in our society, or I will challenge you for it once I defeat Crowder.” 

Deaton stepped forward, hands out and a calm expression on his face. “I think we are reacting very emotionally at this moment. Peter, I am disappointed that you would go after your family like this. Think of what your words could mean to your pack and family. Do you really want to force them to choose between you and them? You know the council will not accept your claim after such a challenge unless you have at least three betas.” 

“You really are kind of a stupid piece of shit, aren’t you?” Stiles said, almost sounding bored from where the omega had perched on the back of an armchair. 

The mayor sighed deeply. “Stiles, that is hardly an appropriate response.” 

The omega looked down contritely. “Sorry, Sir.” 

The district attorney rolled his eyes. “As inappropriately as Stiles may have worded it, he isn’t wrong. Alan, you have done next to nothing for Beacon Hills, except well, not be here. Even now your only concern is for the pack, not the town and thousands of people in Beacon County. Frankly, we are sick of your shit. Yours too, Talia. Even if Peter beats Crowder, then you beat him, as a county we have a petition ready to present to your council. In it we have thousands of signatures and signed witness accounts of the need for either a different alpha to be given to us or we will petition the human government to come in and take over the county.” 

Deaton moved as if to object more but Talia stepping forward silenced him. “All right. I know when I’m beaten. You win, Peter. Alan, leave it, there’s no point to fighting him when he gets like this. It’s the bratty younger brother stealing from his sister all over again.” 

A storm of some sort rolled through Deaton and his fists clenched. It passed quickly and he was his calm self again. That level of rage in the druid made Peter deeply cautious. He’d been operating under the assumption that Talia was the main threat here. But at this reaction...He met Deaton’s eyes for a moment and pure hate hit him before it was gone again. The druid followed Talia silently out of the room. 

“Well, about fucking time.” 

All eyes turned to Stiles with the mayor making a pained noise. Whittemore’s lips twitched but he leveled a stern look at the young omega. Stiles rolled his eyes and grinned at Peter. Despite the reservations about Deaton, Peter found himself grinning back. Satisfaction curled up within him. He was so close to getting everything he wanted. It wasn’t time yet, though, to relish in victory. He needed to focus on the fight, on Crowder. Deaton and Talia weren’t a sure thing yet either, they couldn’t get too cocky. 

As dusk settled around the Hale manor, the tension in the air grew. The ring with its markers had been set. Crowder, along with a few others, stood on one side. Peter ignored them, he knew Deucalion would take note. Stiles and Derek stood at his side. His mate and his second. His lip curled at the muttered comments at Derek’s presence. It was a clear sign of where his nephew’s loyalty was, even without any formal separation from Talia’s pack. 

A druid unknown to Peter was overseeing the challenge. He stepped into the opening through the mountain ash as Crowder did. The druid stepped up to close the circle while stating the formal rules of the fight. It was not a fight to the death, they would fight until one either yielded to the other or one of them couldn’t physically continue. The purpose of the mountain ash was twofold. One, it would keep the fight from spilling out and potentially hurting bystanders and two, it would keep any other wolves from interfering. Anticipation burned through his veins. It had been far too long since he’d been able to let go of this side of his instincts. 

The attack came instantly, feral and vicious in intent. He danced his way out of the blow, giving a manic grin in response to the other alpha’s snarling rage. The fight continued in this dance for a few minutes, he wanted to get a feel for Crowder’s fighting. After it became obvious that Peter wasn’t engaging, Crowder backed off, eying him warily from the other side of the ring. It was obvious the other alpha wasn’t stupid. Peter could see sharp intelligence in the gaze that landed on him. Almost lazily, he rolled back his shoulders and settled firmly into a prepared stance near the edge of the ring. If Crowder wanted to fight, he’d have to come to Peter. 

Supernaturally fast, Crowder made his move. Peter swung to the side a moment before Crowder’s claws reached him. Ducking down and slashing out as he moved, he was rewarded with the sound of a pained snarl. His momentum carried him to the ground, he quickly rolled back up just in time to catch a clawed hand with his own. They exchanged a series of kicks and blows, their struggle carrying them across the ring. At last he found an opening and heaved up to slam Crowder hard against the mountain ash barrier with his clawed hand digging deep into the alpha’s stomach. 

Crowder roared but his retaliation was too weak to dislodge Peter, who then slammed the other alpha to the ground. He leveraged his weight down on the other alpha with one knee on the back of Crowder’s neck. Snarling, Crowder continued to try to buck him off but couldn’t get the leverage needed with Peter’s weight holding him down. 

“Do you yield?” 

Panting, Crowder stopped moving then reluctantly turned his neck to yield it to Peter. Stiles let out a whoop that was quickly followed by the loud howls of his pack. He lightly scraped his claws across Crowder’s neck before standing up, offering a hand to the other alpha as he did so. Nostrils flaring slightly, Crowder hesitated for only a moment before accepting the hand. Pulling him up to his feet, Peter grinned and clapped him on the shoulder. 

“That was a good fight, Alpha Crowder.” 

“Congratulations on your victory, Alpha Hale.” 

The druid broke the circle and Peter had to turn to catch Stiles up in his arms. The omega caught his lips in a ferocious kiss while wrapping long legs around his waist. As he turned to walk out of the circle, he caught the look on Crowder’s face change for just an instant. The alpha was staring at Stiles with such a look of longing that it made Peter tighten his arms around his omega. He was distracted from any further reaction from Erica appearing at his side with a feral grin on her face. 

“Good showing, oh alpha, my alpha. You almost impressed me.” 

He rolled his eyes. “So glad you approve, my least favorite beta.” 

Mock snarling, she punched him in the arm. Talia came up just in time to hear the last part and stiffened visibly. Before his sister could say anything the head council member approached. Reluctantly, he let Stiles go so the omega was standing by his side when the council member reached them. A quick conversation had them all moving towards the large tent where an impromptu council meeting had been set up. The rest of the guests stood respectfully back as the council took their seats. 

The head of the council, Alpha Fiona Heartwood, was the last to sit. She gave them all a razor thin smile as she spoke. “We have called this informal council gathering on the request of Alpha Talia Hale. Alpha Hale, please state your reason for your request.” 

Talia stepped forward, offering a much more genuine looking smile. “Thank you for your graciousness in this time. The events of today have made me realize many things and have humbled me greatly. In an effort to show how serious I am in providing complete support over all my territories as well as my pack members, I have decided to relinquish Beacon Hills to my brother, Alpha Peter Hale.” 

“Well said, Alpha Talia Hale. Do you accept responsibility for this territory, Alpha Peter Hale?” 

It was with great satisfaction that Peter moved forward. The pack bonds were shining bright and strong within him. He could feel his mate’s elation and pride radiating outward. He felt giddy with the rush that came from the knowledge that he had done it. Looking at each council member, he spoke out with a clear voice. “I accept this responsibility and so swear to serve the people of Beacon Hills.” 

For a second time that day, his pack raised their voices in a chorus of howls. Throwing back his head, he added his own howl of victory to their chorus.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for slightly more intense chapter than usual. But I promise it all turns out ok :)

Preparing for the mating ceremony was much less stressful when it was Boyd who would be the druid in charge and not Deaton. They were also able to cut Talia out of the meetings which was another stress reliever. Stiles felt almost light as he snuggled into Peter’s side. They were all squished into Boyd and Erica’s apartment to plan out the ceremony now that the pack dynamics had changed. Technically, Talia was still hosting it, as that was all in motion and it was pointless to start it all over again. But since Peter was an alpha with pack and territory now, his pack were the ones who would take any official roles in the ceremony itself. 

Boyd and Lydia had taken charge of the details of things and the rest of the pack were just there to get their marching orders. The reason they were in Boyd and Erica’s apartment and not the house Peter had rented for the week was because they were avoiding all the wedding guests. They had fled the house earlier in the morning after the twentieth person had knocked on their door. Everyone wanted to get the details and gossip or wanted to start inroads to an alliance with Peter. 

Stiles had mostly tuned out whatever Lydia was talking about by now. He was too caught up in the smell of content alpha and happy pack feelings. Loose limbed and feeling a little buzzed by all the happiness, he just kept nuzzling into Peter. On Peter’s other side, Miriam was doing the same thing, which brought a whole other set of hormonal feelings to the forefront of his lizard brain. All the instincts he had hated his whole life when it came to being an omega were suddenly not so bad now that he had an alpha who respected him. Watching Peter with Miriam made him all gooey on the inside, as well as making him start to want to have a baby with his alpha. The thought would have panicked him even a month ago but now it made him want to role over and beg his alpha to fuck him full. 

He was very rudely brought out of these pleasant fantasies by Jackson gripping him by the back of his neck and half dragging him off the couch. Yelping, he flailed around and ineffectually swatted at the beta wolf. Peter looked up and growled in an aggrieved manner. Jackson rolled his eyes and then glared at Stiles. 

“Whatever you are thinking about smells disgusting. Stop stinking up the room with your hormones or I’m kicking you out for the rest of the discussion.” 

Glaring back at Jackson, he grumbled but let himself be manhandled to the other side of the couch. Erica was smirking at them. “Well, I certainly don’t mind. Besides, don’t you want the chance to mock our omega who was soooo sure no alpha would ever make him into a gooey wreck?” 

Isaac reached over from where he had been leaning against the couch to ruffle Stiles’ hair. “Awww, does our widdle Stiles want to make babies with the big bad alpha?” 

“Fuck you, Lahey.” 

Erica cackled from the floor where she was propped up against Boyd’s legs. “He so does! Here that oh alpha?” 

Blushing bright red, he tried to sink deep into the couch. Derek looked like he was seriously regretting his life choices while Cora had a delighted look on her face. Peter just sighed deeply. 

“If we are finished harassing Stiles, could we please get back to the purpose of this conversation?” Lydia said, cutting into the conversation while giving the room an annoyed look. 

Moaning, Stiles flung himself off the couch to lay at Lydia’s feet. “How is there still more of this? Lydia, my goddess, please let it be over.” 

Boyd heaved a deep sigh. “We don’t really need everyone here for this next stuff. Peter and Derek are really the only other two we need.” 

Looking slightly offended, Lydia sat back in her chair. “Well, I guess I thought that the whole pack might like to be involved in our first pack event. But if not…” 

“Yup, bye.” Erica was already halfway to the door. Isaac scrambled to catch up to her as Stiles tripped as he stood up. 

“Thanks Lyds, you da best!” He said, shouting the words over his shoulder as he made his hasty escape. 

Cora caught up to them just as they were exiting the building. “Wow, you three are brutal.” 

Erica rolled her eyes and pulled Cora in by linking her arm around the born wolf’s waist. “Nah, it’s an old game with Lydia. She knows we love and appreciate her and if she really wanted us there she would have said and we would have stayed. She just likes to berate us.” 

“Besides, Jackson was probably going to smother Stiles if we let them stay together too much longer.” Isaac said, giving Cora a shy smile. 

“Hey! Jax is just jealous of my awesome alpha.” Nobody commented on that. 

Erica dragged them all downtown into the cafe on Main Street for lunch. Thankfully, none of the wedding guests seemed to have lowered themselves to stick around for lunch in Beacon Hills. It probably helped that the evening activities were actually up at one of the lakes and not in the town itself. 

After lunch, the four of them meandered through the town, pointing out the less popular landmarks to Cora. They ended up at the ice cream place before Erica got the text from Boyd that the other group had wrapped up. She left them to go meet up with Boyd while Cora and Isaac seemed to just disappear off somewhere after Isaac had made a vague mention of showing Cora the high school. 

Feeling pleased and content, he began to make his way back towards the center of town. He figured he could stop in and chat with Nan again. The advice from the previous day was running through his head and now he had some follow up questions. Pulling out his phone, he texted Peter, asking what Miriam wanted to do. Peter responded that he was taking her to lunch and then ice cream. Stiles promised to meet them at the ice cream place feeling another zing going through him at the knowledge Peter was taking such good care of Miriam. 

Looking up from his phone, he froze for a brief moment before throwing himself sideways into an ally. He started jogging slightly as he wound his way behind the buildings for a few blocks. Hopefully Scott had not caught his scent and wouldn’t try to follow him. He’d been so distracted by everything else going on that he had completely forgotten about his former best friend. Having no desire to hear any of Scott’s thoughts on the events of the previous day, it would be better to avoid the other beta until the ceremony was over. Once that happened, Peter would be able to kick Scott out of Beacon Hills if the bitten wolf was too much of a problem. 

It looked like he had made a successful escape. Feeling pleased with himself, he headed towards Nan’s again. His phone chimed with a text from Lydia. Sighing, he paused to answer it. Lydia was asking him more questions about the ceremony. With deep reluctance he told her to meet him at the tea shop. He’d really been hoping to have some personal time away from the insanity of the mating ceremony. 

Only one more day, he could survive one more day. He couldn’t wait until it was just Peter, him and Miriam. Though he was sure they would also have at least one, if not more pack members about. That would be totally fine, just no more stupid high society morons trying to tell him how to live his life. Or council members thinking they could tell Peter how to run a pack. 

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t realize someone was in the ally with him until an arm snaked around his throat and pulled tight. The arm constricted his airway so he couldn’t even let out a choked whimper. He slammed his elbows back against the man holding him but it was like hitting a brick wall. Black spots danced in his eyes and in his panic his magic was useless. With no air to breath and his mind lost to the panic, he couldn’t get enough concentration for any spells to work. Something sharp was thrust into his shoulder and he felt his limbs so sluggish just as his vision went completely dark. 

Vague awareness returned to him in random bursts. He thought he might be in a moving car but his eyesight was blurry. There was a rough hand on his neck, something pricked at his neck and everything went dark again. The next time he opened his eyes, everything was dark and he panicked. Terrified that everything would always be dark now, he thrashed his body, only to discover his limbs were immobilized. When he tried to scream he discovered he was gagged. The panic attack made him pass out again. 

Voices arguing were the next thing he woke up to. This time felt more clear than the others. There was also light filtering through his eyelids though it was still difficult to open them. His mind still felt hazy and sluggish. Groaning, he tried to stretch out his limbs and was surprised when they met no resistance. He finally managed to force his eyes open to see only blurry shapes. Blinking, he tried to clear the last of whatever haze had settled over him. It wasn’t working. Closing his eyes again, he tried to focus on the voices instead. 

“ -- don’t get to come in here all high and mighty and lecture me on how to run my pack or how I do my business.“ 

“We had a deal and you broke it. I am very much within my rights to lecture you however I want.” 

A scoff sounded before the first voice spoke again. “A deal? You mean you came to me desperate and begging, offering me something I needed to get what I wanted. Well, I got that and you get to keep your precious nemeton.” 

“I need the omega back in Beacon Hills, not here and not with you.” 

“Me getting the omega was part of the deal druid.” 

“Yes. After I was finished with him.” 

“Like I was going to let you potentially ruin him for me.” 

Stiles felt cold fear settle over him. The longer the voices talked, the more aware he was becoming. He knew both those voices and they were both very bad news. The topic of conversation only served to elevate the levels of dread he was feeling. He had to force himself to focus back in on the conversation. 

“I need him in Beacon Hills to get what I want and then you can have him. It is the only way for you to truly have him as your mate too.” 

A low growl started up. “What?” 

“Please. Don’t be a fool. Peter already claimed the boy with a bite. To sever that bond you need far more than distance and to fuck him. You’ll need a druid to sever it with magic first. The omega, unfortunately, has magic of his own that bonded with the nemeton. I will need to get rid of that connection first then I can get rid of Hale’s claim.” 

“You didn’t mention this before.” The growling was growing louder. Stiles took several deep breaths as the two men continued to argue. Their voices were loud enough to cover the sound of his movements at least. Once he felt like he had gotten his erratic heartbeat under control, he tried to focus on his body. Slowly, he moved his fingers and legs. Pins and needles racing through his limbs made him clamp his lips together to hold back the whimper that threatened to release. 

Finally, he was able to move his hand enough to rub at his eyes. They were crusty and his eyelids were stuck down. Swearing internally, he kept at it until he was able to fully open them. The room he was in was small, the door was open and the voices were coming through a hallway. Twisting around, he saw that the small bed he was on was next to a window. Sitting up was a much slower process than he would have liked but feeling was starting to return to limbs a little faster now. 

By the time he felt like he actually had control back over his body the voices had quieted again. Casting his eyes around the room, he desperately looked for some type of weapon. His magic was a small sputter inside him, something was blocking his access. Rubbing at his chest, he froze when he heard footsteps coming down the hall. 

Alpha Crowder leaned almost lazily against the doorframe in contrast to the sharp eyes that were eyeing him. Heartbeat stuttering in his chest, he shakily got to his feet. He needed any advantage he could get. That, and the idea of being on the bed while the alpha’s gaze was crawling all over him, made him sick to his stomach. Even now, bile churned in him and he had to clench his fists tight to stop them from shaking. Not even facing down the rogue alpha in highschool had left him feeling this terrified 

Deaton was only a few steps behind the alpha and made an annoyed noise when Crowder blocked the druid from getting into the room. Crowder ignored the druid completely. It made Stiles feel even more nervous at the apparent lack of concern on the alphas part. Underestimating Deaton was a mistake, for all of the druid’s lack of care for Beacon Hills, everyone knew the druid did have a significant amount of power. 

“Unless you wish the omega to regain access to his power, I suggest you let me through.” Deaton said, his voice dry and cutting. 

Instead of simply letting the druid pass, Crowder moved forward into the room as well. Not having anywhere to go but also wanting to get as far away from the bed as possible, Stiles quickly moved sideways and back until he hit the wall. The alpha ignored the movement and simply reached towards him. When he tried to duck around the hand, Crowder growled, grabbed his wrist, spun him around and pushed him up against the wall. 

Scrabbling against the wall, trying to get some sort of leverage to push back, Stiles let out a furious snarl of his own. “Let go you fuckhead.” 

Crowder pushed himself flat against Stiles’ back and leaned in so hot breath hit the omega’s ear. “Is that anyway to speak to your alpha, boy?” 

“You’re not my alpha.” Stiles said, pushing back against the body caging him in. Terror was rising up in him and he was dangerously close to another panic attack. Sparks started to sputter on his fingers and he closed his eyes, desperately trying to pull up whatever parts of his magic he could find. 

“Not your alpha yet, little omega, but you will be soon.” The voice was right in his ear and the breath felt like it was burning his skin. 

“Oh for heaven’s sake.” Deaton’s annoyed voice cut through the terror rising in him. He barely had time to register the druid coming up next to them when something was being slammed into his neck. Gasping, he felt his body instantly start to go loose and heavy again. An arm went around his waist, his limbs were too limp for him to fight back anymore and he felt his mind to go slightly hazy again. 

“The fuck was that?” Crowder said, heaving Stiles onto the bed and spinning around to face Deaton. 

“I told you, I needed to give him another dose in order to continue to repress his magic.” 

“It makes him lose consciousness. I want him coherent.” 

Deaton sighed deeply. Even though he couldn’t see the druid, Stiles knew the exact expression Deaton was wearing at the moment. It had been a common sigh back in highschool. “I am growing weary of explaining this to you. There is a ritual I need to perform to bind the nemeton and the omega’s magic to myself. Only after that will it be safe for you to have him on your own.” 

“You aren’t the only one with tricks up your sleeve, druid. There are other ways to break and re-bond an omega. I don’t trust you, get out and find another way to get your precious tree.” 

The pressure feeling in the room was increasing. Stiles could feel the heaviness of magic building even through whatever drugs Deaton had given him. He tried to push himself deeper into the corner of the bed to get as far from the inevitable fight as he could. He just hoped that they managed to incapacitate each other. Crowder growled and Stiles could see the claws extending as the alpha took a step towards the druid. 

The fight itself was hazy, he had to strain to keep himself awake. The desire to know the outcome was stronger than the drugs for the moment. The wall the doorway was on exploded at some point and the fight carried out into the rest of the house they were in. Eventually he couldn’t fight the drugs anymore and he blacked out for a while. When he came back into awareness, the house was silent. His limbs still wouldn’t cooperate so he was forced to lie on the bed not knowing what had happened or if anyone was still in the house with him. 

Footsteps in the hall made him focus back in as much as he could. His mind was still wanting to wander and keeping it to one thought was difficult. “Ah, awake again. Your body is developing a resistance to the drug much faster than I anticipated.” Deaton came up to the bed to hover over him and to eye him critically. 

“What...happened?” Stiles said, managing to somehow slur out the words through a too heavy tongue. Deaton smiled serenely. 

“Don’t worry, Stiles. I took care of Alpha Crowder. He was a means to an end that almost ruined everything. While I find myself quite detesting you, I have no desire to see you used in the way that backwater oaf had planned.” Fingers threaded through his air and jerked his chin up. “I have something much better and more...appropriate planned.” 

He struggled weakly against the hand but the drugs still had him in their hold. He was unable to do anything but watch as Deaton pulled out another syringe and calmly inserted it into his neck. Vaguely, he heard Deaton saying something else to him but the darkness was already pulling him back into it. 

Waking up in a haze and darkness was really starting to get old. He was pretty sure he was in some sort of vehicle again. The road must have not been paved because a giant bump slammed in upwards and into something. Shifting around, he discovered that his hands were still free and as he felt the space he was in, he realized it was most likely a car trunk. Pressing his hands against the top, he pushed as much as he could. There was still a heavy sluggish feeling throughout his whole body so his efforts were probably about as effective if the wall had been concrete. 

The car didn’t go much further before slowing to a stop. There was a thump as a car door opened and shut then keys jingling at the trunk. Stiles tensed, trying to get some sort of movement ready but his body had the movement abilities of mud right now, so it was a pointless endeavor. The trunk opened and he winced at the bright light that shone in. 

“Interesting. I wonder if your magic is stronger than I realized. No matter though.” A hand reached down and grabbed his arm. His struggles were useless to stop Deaton from dragging him out of the car and dumping him on the ground. A booted foot gave him a hard nudge in the side. Rolling over, he glared up at the druid. 

“Fuck you.” 

Sighing, Deaton reached down and pulled him up. His arms were twisting behind him and secured with some sort of rope. His legs were shaking but were able to hold him upright and take jerky steps as Deaton started to walk into the forest. The druid ended up half dragging, half carrying him through the trees until they reached the nemeton. Once they were up to the giant stump, Deaton pushed him on top of it. Swearing, he tried to kick out at the druid but missed. 

Taking a deep breath in and letting it out slowly, Stiles focused inward. Being on the nemeton meant he could start to feel tendrils of his magic again. Deaton had started to circle the nemeton, chanting in Latin which hopefully meant the druid wouldn’t notice that Stiles was connecting to the magic tree as well. He was lucky that even after knowing that he had magic, Deaton was still arrogant enough to not pay attention to it. 

The haze was clearing from his mind now, the nemeton latched onto him eagerly which pushed away the last of Deaton’s magic. He could feel what Deaton was trying to do now. The druid was trying to cut away at the connections Boyd and Stiles had made when they bonded their small pack to the nemeton. Smirking, Stiles concentrating down through the connections, finding his pack members and tugging on the bonds. The answering flare of possessive rage made his smile wider. 

Deaton was either stupid or really not paying attention. Stiles was not the central connection point between the pack and the nemeton. Boyd, as the druid, was the holding point for the pack. It was Boyd that led all the rituals and rites. Stiles and Lydia used their magic to strengthen the pack ties and assist Boyd but in no way were either of them the focus. Deaton couldn’t cut Stiles’ ties to the nemeon without needing the whole pack there to dismantle it. 

A howl rose up in the distance. Deaton’s head whipped around in the direction it had come from. Turning back to Stiles, the druid scowled and stepped onto the stump. Another, louder howl, sounded out. More howls filled the night air to answer it and Stiles felt the thrumming through his veins that was his pack coming to him. 

Before Deaton could reach him on the stump, the first of the wolves burst through the forest. The tawny colored wolf leapt up on top of the stump, flinging itself between Stiles and the druid. Deaton froze, staring down at the snarling wolf. 

“Not possible.” The druid said, whispering the words. 

A wet nostril nudged the back of Stiles’ hands and he laughed. “Oh you fucker, you really had no idea, did you? What, did you think Peter and I had just bonded ourselves to the nemeton? Fuck no. My pack claimed this land long before Peter was our alpha.” The wolf behind him dug teeth into the rope binding his hands and ripped it off. Shakily, he pulled himself to his feet, using the now recognized Isaac for support. 

Erica was still standing between him and Deaton, her hackles raised and a growl low in her throat. Jackson had come up behind the druid, his dark colored fur standing out against the dull wood of the nemeton. Boyd stepped out of the woods with Lydia close behind him. 

“The nemeton stopped being yours to guard a long time ago, Druid Deaton.” Boyd said, his voice was soft but it carried throughout the clearing. “You lost the right to be its guardian when you abandoned the people of Beacon Hills. My pack has protected Beacon Hills for some time now and the nemeton recognizes us for it.” 

Deaton’s face had lost all the calm serenity and had turned into shaking rage. “You children, dare to claim such an ancient magic? This will not be allowed.” 

“That’s not your place to say any longer.” Peter strode out of the forest, eyes flashing red in his rage. “This pack has chosen me as their alpha and the council chose to grant me this land. You are not welcome on it any longer. In fact, you will find yourself not welcome anywhere as the authorities have found the body of Alpha Crowder with your magical fingerprints all over him. You’re a wanted man now, Alan.” 

Deaton turned to leave but quickly stopped at the two snarling wolves blocking his path. Stiles felt himself sag in relief as Derek appeared to lead Deaton away, flanked by Isaac and Jackson in their wolf forms. Boyd and Lydia followed them to monitor any magic Deaton might try to use. Turning to find Peter, he let out a surprised noise as the alpha was already at his side. He flung his arms around Peter and held on as tight as he could. As the adrenaline left his body, he started to shake uncontrollably. Peter whined and clung to him tighter. 

When he finally got his shaking under control, he pulled back to look at Peter. “I thought I had lost you.” He said, tears starting to fall. 

“Oh sweetheart, never.” Peter replied, kissing him long and sweetly. “You’ll never lose me.” 

He kissed Peter back with everything he had. Nothing would take him from his alpha again, he would make sure of it.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here there be the comfort, cuddles and smut :)

Peter was contemplating never letting Stiles or Miriam out of his sight again. The bone deep fear he had felt when they realized Stiles was missing was going to haunt him for a long time. Miriam had been almost inconsolable and he still wanted to crumple up in guilt at the look on her face when he had left her with Natalie to follow Crowder’s trail. The fear had turned to panic when they found the small cabin that Crowder had holed up in. Walking up to it and smelling Stiles and blood had wrecked the last pieces of his control. Derek, Braedon and Cora had needed to hold him down until they’d been able to get the logical side of his brain activated. 

Reaching out a trembling hand, he brushed the hair of Stiles’ forehead. The omega was asleep at the moment with Miriam wrapped around him like an octopus. She hadn’t so much as looked at Peter since she’d been brought back to the house. He had to stop himself from charging out of the house to hunt down Deaton and tear the traitor’s throat out. They had made so much progress with Miriam and now the girl was acting like it was Peter who betrayed her. It made his heart hurt, he so desperately wanted to curl up around them both. 

Stiles murmured in his sleep and nuzzled into Peter’s thigh. Gently resting a hand on his mate’s face, Peter allowed himself a moment to just drink in Stiles’ scent. Closing his eyes, he leaned his head back against the headboard. Stiles was safe now and he would do everything in his power to make sure nothing like this ever happened again. 

Logically he knew Miriam would come around as well. She had been through so much in the past year, it was no wonder that she had reacted like she had to Peter leaving her. It probably had felt like another betrayal even though he had only left to bring back her brother. It was still hard though, he hadn’t realized how much he had come to depend on her scent and happiness in his life. 

His phone buzzed and he glared down at it. It was probably another text from Deucalion in regards to all the fallout from this insanity. Deaton had been transferred to the druidic council for punishment. The ceremony had been delayed indefinitely and most of the guests had already gone home. Talia was still present which made his instincts constantly on edge. He wanted all other alphas out of his territory and to be left alone with his mate and pack. 

An uptick in Stiles’ heartbeat made him go on the alert. Looking down, he saw that Stiles’ was in the beginning stages of waking up. He ran a hand over the omega’s face again and murmured reassurances. Stiles’ heartbeat evened out and he blinked his eyes open slowly, looking up at Peter. 

“Hey…” 

“Hey.” Peter said softly, smiling down at his mate. 

Yawning, Stiles moved as if to sit up but stopped when Miriam whimpered, still asleep, and clung to him tighter. “Shit...she been here the whole time?” 

Peter nodded in response, not sure how else to respond. Stiles reached down and started to gently rub her back. Slowly he was able to maneuver himself up and shift Miriam so he could sit up. Peter wrapped an arm more securely around Stiles’ shoulders and tugged the omega closer to him. 

“The rest of the pack still here?” 

Peter smirked at the door. “Yes, Erica and Jackson are both still in wolf form and guarding the bedroom door. Derek and Cora are downstairs. Isaac is currently doing laps around the house.” 

“Woah...really?” 

“Yes, really. You had us all very worried.” 

“Understatement!” Erica said, shouting the words through the door. 

Peter rolled his eyes, “Or not in wolf form.” 

Miriam snuffled at the noise and both Stiles and Peter froze, watching her. She stiffened suddenly and opened her eyes with a start. “Stiles!” 

“Hey, hey, right here shadow, I’ve got you.” Crawling up to be more secure in Stiles’ lap, she glared at Peter. Feeling hurt, he went to withdraw his arm around Stiles’ shoulder but his mate reached up and stopped him. “None of that, Miri, what’s up with this?” 

Still glaring at Peter, the younger omega turned to hide her face in Stiles’ chest. Stiles stared at his sister in confusion before looking back at Peter. Sighing, Peter shook his head. “It’s all right. It was rough when we realized you were missing and…” He huffed out a breath and looked away. “It’s fine.” 

“No. Not fine. Miriam Claudia Stilinski, look at me right now.” Exuding defiance out of every pore of her being, Miriam pulled back and glared at Stiles. In return, Stiles narrowed his eyes at her. “It’s time for talking, I know you know how to use your words better than this.” 

Miriam grumbled and tried to hide again but Stiles gently pushed her up. There were tears in her eyes and she was shaking slightly as she started to talk. “You were gone...and he left me and...Laura came and said things and…” The sobs started then and she burrowed her way back into Stiles. Peter felt startled at the mention of Laura. Stiles made soothing noises while he hugged Miriam and gave Peter a confused look. Tentatively, Peter laid on a hand on Miriam and gently rubbed her back. 

“Miriam, sweetheart, can you tell us what Laura said please?” He asked, as gently as possible. 

There was a long moment of silence while Miriam pulled herself back together. “Tried to get Aunt Natalie to give me to her and said that now that you had what you wanted in a mate and territory that I’d just be in the way and…” She trailed off silent. Peter could smell the absolute dejection and misery in her scent. He had never contemplated hurting a family member like he was in this moment. He didn’t realize he had started to growl until Stiles elbowed him. 

Slowly he leaned over and pulled Miriam off Stiles and over to him. “Little cub, I will never not want you here with me and Stiles, alright? You and your brother are the best things that have ever happened to me and I never want to let you go.” 

He felt Miriam hesitate, even as her scent turned sweeter. Letting out a rumbling noise from deep in his chest he pulled her closer to him. With a sharp cry, she wrapped her arms around his chest and clung to him. Stiles moved to put an arm around her so he could snuggle into both of them. Peter felt something release in his chest at being able to hold onto both of them. Continuing to rumble he pulled both the Stilinski’s down with him so they were all curled up together on the bed. 

Erica banging the bedroom door open woke him up again. Apparently he had fully accepted the beta as his beta because his senses didn’t even try to tell him she was a threat. He opened up one eye and gave her a halfhearted growl. Erica just beamed down at them. “Cuddle pile!” The beta leapt into the bed with them to snuggle into the group. Following Erica, was Jackson and Isaac who wasted no time in crawling up to crash in on the party. 

Stiles groaned and ineffectively swatted at his packmates. “Some of us are still human and need to breathe...dudes…” 

“Aw, but our love will keep you alive.” 

“I don’t love you.” Jackson said, growling even as he fought Erica for space next to Stiles. 

Peter grinned and stretched, rolling out of the way of the wriggling betas and pulling Miriam with him. She made an unhappy sound but didn’t resist, just clung to Peter harder. A resigned sigh made him look back at the door to see Derek standing there looking like he’d rather be anywhere but here. Cora just giggled and shoved her way past her brother to leap onto the bed. The bed creaked warningly. Derek sighed again. 

Eventually they did all have to get up and make their way downstairs to figure out some sort of breakfast/lunch. Peter was pleased to discover that Jennifer had arrived sometime overnight. Having his entire pack together made his heightened nerves relax somewhat. That she was another magic user also went a long way in having that extra protection. It was somewhat unusual for packs to have as many magic users officially part of their pack as he had. This was because most magic users preferred to have the autonomy outside of a pack. Peter was pleased with having both a witch and a druid (and whatever the hell Stiles was) to defend his whole territory. 

After eating, the pack all congregated on the couches and chairs in the big main living space. Peter, who had yet to fully let go of Stiles, maneuvered things so that he, Stiles and Miriam were all on a large chair together. It gave him the perfect excuse to continue the heavy scenting and cuddling session from earlier. Even in the brief separation during food, Stiles had gotten too many other scents on him. His mate needed to smell like him fully and completely. The best way to make this happen would be to have sex, but with Miriam’s current insecurities he wasn’t sure when that would be able to happen. So intensive cuddling it was. 

Lydia, predictably, was the first one to break the silence. “I know we are all still recovering from the stress of everything but we do need to discuss next steps. In particular, Talia Hale is still in Beacon Hills and not only that, but in the Hale manor. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that the manor should be Peter’s?” 

Derek made a sad rumbling noise. “Yes, it…” The beta sighed and looked away for a moment. Braedon reached over and curled their fingers together. “It should be. Mom should have asked Peter for permission to stay in the area once the ceremony was officially cancelled. At the very least, she should have moved out and found another residence.” 

Jennifer nodded along with Derek. “There is also the matter of sorting out who owns what inside the house. Any ancestral things, objects bought by Hales before Talia, should stay in the house. Technically, even if Talia bought anything, it should stay there too but….” 

“Usually in these instances of alpha changes, the other alpha is not family so there is more official protocol.” Peter said, interjecting smoothly into the conversation. “Seeing as that she is my sister and while I am frustrated deeply with her decisions, I still do not want to cut off ties completely. Especially as I want Derek and Cora to be able to have as good of a relationship as they can with their mother.” 

“Well, she pretty much kicked us out and then Laura told us we were traitors and a disgrace to the Hale name. So, yeah.” Cora said, curling up into herself. Peter growled and was surprised he was not the only one. Isaac had positioned himself close to Cora and reached up to grab her hand in his. 

“Well, that does not bode well for a smooth transition.” Peter said, rolling his eyes. Why his sister insisted on being stubborn about these things. It was not uncommon for large family members to move into other packs. Especially if the other pack was headed by an alpha of the same family. 

“As far as we know she also has not brought in another emissary.” Boyd’s steady voice brought a small measure of calm to everyone. “It makes it more difficult to negotiate as I believe most of this should be done with the alphas and their emissaries.” 

“I can call and request a mediator from the Yukimuras.” Derek made the suggestion with a resigned weariness that Peter truly wished he could hug out of his nephew. He hated how hard this was on both Cora and Derek. 

“I think that is a very good idea. Thank you, Derek. Meanwhile, Boyd and Jackson, would you both visit the city council for me? To check in to see if they have any requests of me that require immediate attention.” At the nods he received, he relaxed a little bit more. “Then I don’t believe there is much more we can do at the moment. When we have a timeline from the Yukimuras we will send a request for a formal sit down with Talia. Until then, we should focus on recovering and bonding as a pack.” 

Everyone murmured their ascent as those with tasks moved off to do them. The rest of the pack stayed in the house for the day and Stiles decided they should have a x-men movie marathon. It was a good choice in that it brought a lot of hilarious commentary that Cora threw herself in the middle of with abandon. Jackson and Boyd returned fairly quickly with the report that the town council would be pleased if Peter could attend their next session in two days but for now to rest. 

By the next day Peter had high hopes it would pass much the same as the day before. Kira Yukimura had returned Derek’s call and Noshiko herself was on the way to Beacon Hills to mediate between himself and Talia. Noshiko wouldn’t arrive until the next day which meant that he didn’t need to think about the Hale manor yet. 

“Peter, look!” An enthusiastic Miriam plopped into his lap, thrusting a magazine at him. Taking it from her with raised eyebrows that only got higher when he realized it was a home decorating catalogue. Opening to the page she was pointing to with he blinked several times at the spread before him. It showed a large living space that was absolutely covered in purple. With a dark purple couch, lilac throw pillows and blankets, vines with tiny purple flowers creeping up the curtains. 

“You said yesterday that awful alpha would be taking a lot of the stuff out of the manor and Erica told me later that you’d need help picking out new things and gave me these magazines! This is my favorite because it’s got everything on one page but I’ve been cutting out other things, look.” 

Miriam proceeded to shove more pages of paper that she had cut out and glued pieces of magazines to. Belatedly, Peter remembered Stiles warning him that if Miriam had her way the whole house would be purple. Looking down at the sheer overwhelming amount of purple things she had found, he wished he had taken the warning a bit more seriously. A coughing noise made him turn around to glare at Erica, who was starting to cry from trying not to laugh. 

“Do you like it? Was I helpful? I can find more.” Miriam said, looking anxiously at him with wide, brown eyes. He felt himself melt into a puddle of goo. 

“Yes, thank you cub, this is amazingly helpful. I’m so touched you went to all this work just to help me.” To his astonishment he realized that when he said the words, he was actually being genuine. Silently, he vowed to never let Deucalion see him with Miriam. His long time friend would mock him forever if he saw how quickly Peter folded to the small omega. 

Miriam beamed up at him and then leaned over to confidentially whisper. “I thought it would be good to have ideas before Lydia did everything. She always wants us to just like whatever she chooses. Like the dress I was going to have to wear for the ceremony.” 

Peter nodded gravely, “That was a very good thought. We will have to wait to make anything final until we know what Talia is leaving in the house. It’s possible we won’t have to get very many things at all.” At her falling face, he hastily tacked on. “That isn’t to say we can’t always redecorate some rooms anyway.” 

That minefield successfully navigated he was able to move them over to the kitchen and distracted Miriam with having her help him in making lunch. Erica had disappeared somewhere and Stiles was still taking a self described, ‘most awesome bath of ever’, so it was just Peter and Miriam for about twenty minutes in the kitchen. Peter let himself enjoy the unexpected bonding time and contentedly listened to her chatter away over various topics. 

After lunch, he was lazily cuddling with Stiles on the couch and watching Miriam build some sort of lego structure on the floor, when a familiar heartbeat came into his awareness just before there was a knock at the door. Miriam looked up and scowled at the door as if it was responsible for the knock. Sighing deeply, Peter untangled himself from Stiles and went to answer it. 

“Talia.” He said, keeping his voice as neutral as possible. 

“Peter.” 

They stood there in strained silence. Stiles shuffled up behind him to wrap an arm around his waist and give Talia a blank look. “And you’re here because…?” 

Ignoring Stiles completely, Talia fixed her attention on Peter. “May I come in, brother? I believe we have things to discuss.” 

Stiles snorted and hooked his chin on Peter’s shoulder. “Yeah, like why you’re still in Peter’s house and territory?” 

The slow stiffening of Talia’s spine was the only thing that indicated her increased irritation. “Peter, I had hoped we would be family first in the midst of all this. I would think you’d be trying to make this easier on Derek and Cora. They are so very fond of you, you know.” 

“Yes, and I am, it is because you are my sister and former alpha that I didn’t send my enforcer to insist on you leaving my territory the day after the ceremony was cancelled and the open invite onto my territory ended.” 

“Then I am at a loss as to where this open hostility is coming from.” Talia’s words were as soft and reasonable as always. It was Stiles’ arm around his waist and chin on his shoulder that stopped him from growling. She always did this, his sister, made it sound like you were the one who was being unreasonable. He took a deep breath in preparation for a response but Stiles beat him to it. 

“Ok, so yeah no. Look at me Talia and acknowledge my existence. Now.” 

Talia’s eyes flared red. “Stiles, this conversation does not concern you nor do you have the right to make demands of me.” 

“Oh my gods, what is it with you? You know I was just kidnapped by your emissary, right? And yet, you come here and make no mention of that or apologize for his actions.” Stiles titled his head off Peter’s shoulder, narrowing hard eyes at Talia. “Or...did you know about that? Tell me, Talia, did you know what Deaton had planned?” 

“Of course not! I am completely insulted by your accusation. Peter, really, this is too much to bear. Send him away so we can talk in a civilized manner.” Talia’s outrage was evident but under the bluster was the faintest uptick of a heartbeat and behind the anger in her scent was the clear smell of nerves. 

Peter stepped back, feeling like he had been slapped. “Look at me and say it again.” 

“What?” The anxiety scent flared up stronger as Talia turned to him in apparent confusion. 

Letting his own eyes flare bright red, he stepped forward again, growling. “Say you had no knowledge of the plan to kidnap Stiles then tell me you didn’t help plan it.” 

“Peter, this is insane. How could you ever think I would do that to you? You’re my brother and my bet --” She stopped herself abruptly and it was as if the air completely left the room. 

His gums were itching as fangs threatened to drop. “Get out.” 

“Peter…” Talia reached towards him. He flinched away. 

“I never thought you could hate me so much, just leave...”

“Hate you?” Anger came through hot and blazing towards him. “What about me? You, who manipulated and planned to claim my territory and home for your own. Who went after a useless slut of an omega who has already betrayed our pack and -- “ 

“Enough.” He gripped her wrist tight as it came towards him, claws out. “Enough, Talia. There are many things I could say to you. How you always treated me like I was worthless and beneath you. But, I don’t think any of that matters now. You will gather what pack members you have here and leave. Immediately. If you take anything out of the house, I will prosecute you legally and remember, you got it all documented right after I became an alpha and I have copies so no reason to think you can sneak things past me. I will have a mediator and my emissary contact you later to get any requests you have to keep family heirlooms but until then I don’t want to see or speak to you.” 

With one last wordless snarl, Talia wrenched her arm free and stormed away from the house. Peter stood there for a moment, just reminding himself to breathe. A gentle hand brushed over his arm. He allowed himself to be pulled away from the door and stood there blankly while Stiles shut it behind them. 

“Hey.” Hands cupped at his face, looking up, he met concerned brown eyes. “Peter, what do you need?” Taking a shaky breath, he collapsed into Stiles’ arms and clung to him. 

When he felt sturdier on his feet, he pulled back and moved a hand to brush over Stiles’ cheek. “I love you.” 

“I love you too.” 

Peter closed his eyes and allowed himself to feel the truth in Stiles’ words and soak it into himself. Miriam barreled into both of them and said with a shriek, “I love both of you more!” 

Laughing, Peter untangled himself from them and scooped her up to rub his beard on her face. “Tickles, Peter! Letgo!” 

He tossed her onto the couch with an exaggerated huff, grinning as she let out another shriek. Before moving fully into the room, he reeled Stiles in with a hand to the neck so a quick kiss. “See if Miriam is all right spending some time with the betas tonight, I need to have you naked and squirming under me.” He said, murmuring the words in Stiles’ ear. He was rewarded by a sharp flare of arousal. Smirking, he pulled back and winked before spinning to catch Miriam as she flung herself at him from the back of the couch. 

After a brief tussle with Miriam, he was able to pull out his phone and update everyone on what happened with Talia. It soon became clear that he was going to need to go make sure that Talia and other pack members were actually leaving Beacon Hills. He called Derek back to the house to stay with Stiles and Miriam as he didn’t want to force his nephew to face Talia at the moment. It was going to be hard enough for Derek as it was, no reason to make the poor boy go against his mother after the throw down that Peter had just given her. 

Talia, thankfully, was not pushing her luck and by the time Peter arrived at the Hale manor, the family and pack members were getting into their vehicles. Talia was standing outside, radiating tension. His heart clenched at the sight of Laura and Melanie. Melanie was trying to usher the kids into one of the cars but Grace saw him and took off before either mother could stop her. 

“Uncle Peter!” 

He was moving before he fully registered it and had the five year old in a tight hug in moments. This was the hardest part for him. When he had become an alpha, the three cubs had been the only others present. They were his first pack and it hurt that he would have to let them go. Melanie reached him first, a strained look on her face. 

“Grace, we have to go.” She said, her voice low and urgent, casting a nervous look back at Talia who was watching them. 

“No, no, no...I wanna stay with Uncle Peter!” 

“Grace.” Melanie reached for her daughter only for Grace to snarl and snap her teeth. 

“Hey, we don’t bite at your mommy, Grace.” Peter said to her, flashing red eyes. 

Tears forming, Grace huddled down to hide her head on his shoulder. “Sorry.” 

Before Melanie could do anything else, Laura appeared. His niece was practically foaming at the mouth and wrenched Grace out of Peter’s arms. Grace shrieked in dismay but went silent at Laura’s fierce glare. “That’s enough. I am going to put you down and you will go over to your grandmother and alpha or you will not get to have your dragon with you at bedtime.” 

Once Grace was moving away, Laura turned her furious look on Peter. “Don’t you ever come near my children again. I am disgusted by you, betraying your family like this.” 

Taking a step towards Laura, he met her gaze unflinchingly. “And you will stay away from mine. Especially Miriam. Understood?” 

Eyes flashing, Laura barred her teeth in a silent snarl and turned back to the cars. Melanie gave Peter one last searching look before she followed her mate. Peter stood there until he could no longer hear the cars on the drive. 

Sending the betas that had accompanied him away, he went into the house. The smell of pack and family was both comforting and mournful. His instincts had fully accepted Stiles and the boy’s pack as his own but he still longed for his family. He wasn’t sure how long he had spent wandering through the house, dwelling in memories when his senses alerted him to a new presence. 

Stiles was standing in the foyer, gazing around himself with raised eyebrows. “There you are, bosswolf, was wondering what got you so contemplative.” 

Letting the rush of mate fill his senses, he slowly made his way down the stairs. Stiles ran appreciative eyes down his body and he could smell the omega’s growing arousal. The omega leaned against the bannister, showing off his lithe form by twisting to let the skinny jeans leave almost nothing to the imagination. The urge to touch and claim was strong, but Peter held himself back. The hunt made the catch all the more satisfying. 

Stopping a few feet away, Peter swept his eyes down and back up his mate’s form, a twist of a smile on his face. “Brave of you, little omega, walking into the alpha wolf’s den all alone.” 

The rush of the arousal got stronger and Stiles choked slightly. “Oh gods, Peter, you can’t just say things like that…” 

Stalking forward, Peter ran a finger down Stiles’ shirt front, pausing right at the belt of his jeans. Leaning forward, he let his finger work its way under the shirt while he flicked out his tongue to touch the edge of the omega’s earlobe. Stiles gave a full body shudder then a moan when Peter tucked a finger under the edge of his jeans. 

Tugging Stiles’ forward, he met the omega with a kiss. Stiles surrendered instantly, tilting his neck in submission to his alpha. Peter felt a rumble deep in his chest and he moved to run lips down the side of his mate’s pale neck. When he got to the collar bone, he paused to suck and bite. Shuddering, Stiles fell against him with a deep moan. Gripping the omega up into his arms he bit down hard and rutted them up together with a growl. 

Stiles eagerly wrapped long legs around his waist and tangled fingers into his hair. Kneading the omega’s ass, Peter began to move them off the stairs and down the hall. They made slow progress as he had to stop multiple times for them to shed their clothing. By the time they reached the door of the nearest room, they were both shirtless with open jeans and cocks out. 

Shoving his mate against the wall again, he couldn’t help the urge to continue to mark up the pale skin. Rutting up hard against Stiles’ leaking cock, he bit down on a nipple and made the omega buck up with a cry. 

“Oh shit, oh fuck, Peter...please, alpha, I need you in me.” 

The words shredded the last of Peter’s control. Wrenching the door closest to them open and not caring that it was the study he got them as far as the desk, shoving everything off with a sweep of his arm, he pushed Stiles’ down on his back and tore the jeans off the omega. The smell of the omega’s slick made him feel wild with desire. 

Kneeling, he gripped Stiles’ hips with his hands to pull the omega close enough so he could lick into the slick filled opening. Stiles shouted out in pleasure, bucking up his hips as he did so. Pressing them down with an iron grip, Peter licked in faster, finding the clitoris and undulating his tongue against it. 

When the omega’s orgasm started, he pulled back to push a finger deep into the boy’s vulva and rubbed him through the first and into another one as he found the g-spot. The rush of hot slick made his cock throb. Thrusting another finger in, he moved them around to the sound of Stiles’ panting breaths. 

“Peter, alpha, please…” 

“Is this what you need, pretty omega?” 

He pressed several light kisses against the inside of Stiles’ thigh, pressing a third finger in as he did so. 

“No, and you know it, evilwolf, get your cock in -- shit, fuck!” 

Peter had bitten down on the tender flesh of the omega’s thigh and sucked hard. Rubbing his thumb along the clitoris, he relished in the harsh and needy cries his mate was giving out. 

“That’s it, baby, alpha will give you what you need. Tell me what you need, darling.” 

“You fucker, fuck me, now.” 

Grinning, Peter stood, removing his fingers and pumping his cock. He paused a moment to enjoy the view of his wrecked mate, laid out on the desk in front of him. The omega’s body was littered with bruises and bite marks. Reaching down, Peter ran a finger down the leaking cock of his mate. Cursing, Stiles tried to pull him closer but it was obvious the boy was too fucked out to have much strength left. 

Reaching back down, he pulled up on the omegas hips and lined up his cock with the pulsing opening. He let the tip push its way in, loving the way the muscle tightened over his leaking member. Sliding in another inch, he groaned at the tight heat of his mate’s body. 

“Are you just going to stand there or do something?” Stiles’ voice came out breathless and desperate. He could tell the omega was on the edge of another orgasm but needed more from Peter. 

“Just enjoying the view, darling boy, look at you, all flushed and desperate for my cock. Tell me again what you need, omega.” 

Gritting his teeth, Stiles flung back his head, gasping as Peter slid in another inch. It was taking all his control not to fuck the omega with wild abandon. 

“You know what I need, you bastard.” 

Gripping the pale thighs tighter, Peter pulled back out and pushed back in at the whine it produced. “I want to hear you say it, my pretty omega, say it to me.” 

“Please, please, Peter, apha, fuck me, please…” 

Growling, Peter thrust in hard to the hilt. Stiles gave a wild shout, arching his back. He set up a fast and brutal pace, thrusting in and out, reveling in every noise he rung out of the writhing omega under him.

Feeling his knot forming, Peter drove in harder with each thrust. He reached down to grip Stiles’ cock in a tight hold. It only took a couple of pumps before Stiles was coming with a harsh cry. Groaning, he followed the omega through the orgasm and with one final thrust, the knot locked in place. He almost blacked out from the force of his own orgasm and he found himself slumping down over the omega on the desk. 

Pushing himself partway up with shaking arms, he ground the knot deep into his mate. He was still coming in hot pulses and Stiles was almost incoherent underneath him, trying to push himself down on Peter’s knot. Groaning again, Peter tucked his arms underneath his mate and pulled the boy up and gripped him under the ass. Staggering, he managed to maneuver them over to the sofa, over by the library side of the study. 

It was with relief that he dropped into the sofa on his back, Stiles on top of him. The omega made several mewling noises, at the jostling of the knot but soon settled back into a content hum. Almost lazily, he gave a few more thrusts of his knot into the omega, but while his knot was still locked in tight, his release was finishing. 

He placed blunt teeth over the mating mark on Stiles’ neck, licking around the raised edges. His mate let out a low moan and ground back against his knot. Running soothing hands up and down the omegas back, he murmured gentle praises into the boy’s ear. 

“That’s it, my good omega, you did so well for me, sweetheart.” 

Letting out a contented hum, Stiles relaxed fully into his hold, nuzzling at his neck. Peter took in a deep breath, enjoying the scents of mate, sex and mine, all wrapped up together.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it finally is! I'm so sorry it took me so long. I kind of wrote myself out of plot at the last chapter and then I got a job so I've been adjusting to that giant time suck when it comes to writing. All that to say, yes, this is the last chapter. I'm sorry you all had to wait so long for it!

The last nine months had seemingly passed in only minutes. But here they were again, standing right outside the Hale manor, waiting for the guests to arrive. This time though, Stiles felt much more at peace and ready for the day. The last nine months had given him and Peter time to truly settle into their relationship. In the long process of figuring out how to run the territory well, the two of them had hashed out what they were each good at and what areas they should focus on. 

The Hale manor had been renovated to better accommodate their pack and a guest house had been built. They had future plans for a few other smaller houses as their pack continued to expand. It had turned out that there had been several wolf families that had left the territory not long after Talia had, not wanting to stay if there was no active Alpha present. Most had submitted requests to return. Seven families already had and were living in either Beacon Hills or one of the other towns in the county. Peter was in the process of reviewing a few other applications as well. 

“Still nervous?” Peter’s voice dragged him out of his contemplations. He turned to smile at his mate. 

“Not much, it’s easier this time. Especially since it’s just the party.” 

Peter smiled back at him, leaning in to claim a kiss. They had officially mated at the Nemeton, a month after the kidnapping. The party today was more of a way to show off how well Peter was managing his territory. 

“Good. If anyone gives you trouble, you have full permission to knock them flat out.” 

Stiles rolled his eyes but laughed anyway. “Like I need your permission, alpha.” 

Tucking an arm around his waist, Peter pulled him flush against the wolf’s warm body. Brushing lips lightly over his ear, the alpha purred his next words out. “Are you going to make me look bad in front of our guests, darling?” 

Snuggling into his mate, he let out a contented hum. “Of course, oh alpha mine.” 

“You’re being gross again.” Miriam said, tugging at Peter’s arm with a scowl. 

Peter laughed and reached down to tug at one of her braids. “Oh are we, kitten? So sorry, I had no idea.” 

The ten year old expressively rolled her eyes. “Uncle Derek says that you are a good liar but I don’t think so at all.” 

Stiles couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him at expression on Peter’s face. Miriam had fully settled now, into her new family and sass seemed to be the mode of choice lately. It was a never ending source of amusement to him as he watched Peter figuring out how to reconcile the sweet picture the alpha had of Miriam with this sarcastic little ten year old that had appeared. 

Before Peter could retort, movement down the driveway signaled their first guest. Miriam fled back into the house as the car pulled up and Stiles turned a large grin at the guests. Well, here goes nothing, he thought as the council member smoothly got out of the car. 

Two hours later and everything was flowing smoothly. Stiles was totally waiting for the other shoe to drop. The shoe he was sure would arrive when Talia Hale would. He was both surprised and unsurprised that Peter’s sister had yet to make an appearance. Communication between Peter and Talia had been nonexistent over the past months. Derek had managed to keep communication up between him and Laura. Though how the beta wolf could stand the lecture he got at every phone call, Stiles had no idea. 

Talia had not responded to their invite so they only knew she was coming because Laura had complained about it to Derek. It seemed that Talia wanted to try and regain some goodwill with the council and thought a gracious acceptance of Peter on the Hale land would help. Stiles had no idea if that was true but as long as she behaved, he really didn’t care. 

He knew the very moment Talia’s car arrived because he instantly had a tense Cora with an even tenser Derek squared off on either side of him. Peter just ambled over, all casual like. Stiles would have believed it, if not for their bond and the slight tremors of anxieties he felt coming through his mate. 

Talia hesitated for a moment before walking up to them. Her gaze was mostly directed towards Cora and Derek and there was a sorrowful feel to her. 

“Derek, Cora, you both look well.” 

“You do as well.” Derek said, awkwardly, as Cora gave her mother a cool expression. 

Stiles couldn’t help himself when the silence settled again. “Welcome to Beacon Hills, Alpha Hale. Let us know if there is anything we can do to make you more comfortable.” 

Talia’s entire body stiffened and she gave him a frigid look. “Thank you. Peter, hello.” 

“Hello, Talia. I do hope you enjoy the celebration. Are Laura and Melanie with you?” 

“Just Laura is attending, I thought it best after the...incident last time that Melanie and the kids would be better off remaining behind. If you’ll excuse me then, I’ll go mingle.” 

Peter smiled at her and nodded. “Of course, as my mate said, let us know if you need anything.” 

Stiles couldn’t help but turn slightly so he could watch her walk into the crowd. He knew that Talia’s knowledge of Deaton’s plan wasn’t widespread but there had been enough rumors that there was still some obvious snubbing going on. Derek, almost vibrating with tension, growled something unintelligible and stalked away. Cora heaved a deep sigh and followed him, leaving Peter and Stiles along for the moment. 

“Hey, there, mate of mine.” 

“Yes, my beautiful omega?” 

“Can we sneak off and have sex yet?” 

Laughing, Peter pulled him close to nuzzle into his neck for a moment. “You know the answer to that, sweetheart.” 

Grumbling, Stiles pulled back. “Yeah, yeah, gotta do the stupid formal stuff. I know, I know.” 

“I’m so sorry to be such a burden.” Deucalion’s mocking voice made him spin around, glaring at Peter who just smirked. He rolled his eyes at the other alpha, flipped him off, then went to go see if he could find any of the prospective pack members that had come that day. Peter had invited several families and singles who had requested to join the pack to come to the party and then stay for part of the week. 

Snagging up Miriam, who was always an excellent way to get a quick judgement on people, he was able to keep himself preoccupied for the next hour. All the potentials were very nice and polite but really only one family did he feel completely at ease with. The others all acted like they were humoring him in the conversation. Like the omega didn’t matter, several of them asked about Peter multiple times. 

As they walked away from the last ones, Miriam shook her head. “Idjits.” 

Snorting, Stiles nodded his agreement but still reached down to tug on her braid. “Idjits, huh? Wait...who let you watch Supernatural.” 

Eyes wide, Miriam gave him her best innocent smile. He didn’t buy it for a minute, she’d been using the same face since she had been born. “No one.” 

“Uh, huh. Don’t worry, I’ll figure it out, shadow and then I will have words with them.” 

“Stiles.” 

The voice to his side was loud enough and sudden enough that he jumped about a foot in the air and let out a strangled screech. Getting his heartbeat under control, he glared at Laura Hale. “Huh, so you did come.” 

“Great reflexes you have there.” 

“Right. You have something to say? Or are you just hear to lurk and glower. I hate to break it to you, but Derek definitely beats you in that department.” 

Laura rolled her eyes. “Believe me, I leave all the lurking to Derek. You should have seen him when he was a teenager, I thought we’d have to get special insurance to save us from the lawsuits over the scary werewolf at school.” 

He couldn’t help the snort that escaped him and then had the very strange moment of sharing a grin with Laura Hale. Feeling a bit like he was in an alternate universe, he scratched at the back of his head. “So, uh, we ok?” 

Deflating a little bit, Laura gazed around the area. “I don’t know, I said some pretty terrible things to you and Peter.” 

“Yes, you did.” 

Laura actually winced and looked away. “I’ve been speaking with Melanie more. It’s been...enlightening. I realized how miserable she has been, pushing into these strict dynamics and...I haven’t been around as much as I should be with all the pack things mom sends me on.” 

“Oh, that’s uh, good. I’m glad, she really does love you.” He felt a bit lost and needed a distraction before he tried something really stupid, like try and hug Laura. Casting around for a good distraction, he practically strangled Erica as he leapt on her. “Hey, have you met Erica? Erica, this is Laura, you know, Derek’s other sister.” 

The two women gave each other considering looks then Erica smiled. “Laura, so good to finally meet you, I’ve heard so many things. Walk with me?” 

Giving the blond an equally scary smile, Laura nodded. “I’m pleased to meet you.” 

He made a hasty escape as soon as the two of them turned away. Miriam giggled next to him as he tugged her back behind the house. “Laura is weird.” 

He rubbed the top of her head and chuckled. “She sure is, little shadow. Now, where do you think Peter wandered off to?” 

She wrinkled her nose and peaked around the corner. “He’s still with Deucalion. And evil lady’s with them.” 

“Ugg, really? Shit. Let’s go inside then, see what Lydia is up to.” 

Lydia was busy and gave them a passing smile but quickly shooed them out. He knew it was because she was worried he’d offend someone and couldn’t help but be a little annoyed at it, even though he knew it was fair. Back outside, he skirted the edge of the crowd, was stopped five times by various betas and one alpha. Thankfully, they all seemed genuinely interested in what he had to say, so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. 

Before he even realized it, they were all transitioning to the large tent that had been set up for dinner. Natalie had spread out the guests with the Hale pack members and made sure that Talia was not sharing a table with Peter and Stiles. It would read as a snub against her, but they had decided they preferred that to a public altercation between her and Stiles. 

Dinner went fairly smoothly and soon the guests started to trickle off. Tomorrow would be a ceremony of sorts to bless their mating with the guests as witnesses. Stiles thought it was all a bit over the top and ridiculous but had been talked around into rolling with it for the sake of the pack. It was apparently a big deal to have something be public like this, it cemented Peter’s status as a territory holding alpha in the eyes of the werewolf community. 

The pack built a large bonfire once all the guests had left and Stiles settled down on a blanket to snuggle up to Peter. The alpha easily wrapped possessive arms around him and nuzzled into his air. All the tension of the day drained out of him and contentedness washed over him. This, right here, was the good stuff. Being surrounded by the pack and family. 

Miriam was shadowing Derek so closely that everytime the beta turned, he almost stepped on her. For every scowl or growl Derek gave, her enjoyment increased. Stiles couldn’t help the giggle that escaped him as his little sister gave Derek wide, sad, eyes and asked for help in making a s'more. The werewolf folded immediately and soon had Miriam wrapped around him like a barnacle while selecting out a marshmallow and stick. 

Seeing that Derek was well in hand, he turned his attention to his other project. Isaac was hovering at the far edge, watching Cora who had just dropped the latest bundle of wood by the fire. The awkward flirting and longing looks that had been going on for the last several months were an endless source of amusement for him. He was also their biggest shipper, behind Erica, so he took every opportunity to try and push them together. 

Peter nipped at his ear, bringing him back out of his thoughts. “Waz up wolfman?” 

A deep sigh resonated through him and he grinned in delight. He just loved it when he got Peter to make that sound. “Your attention is wandering again, maybe I want you to myself tonight.” 

“Well, you should have definitely not declared this an all pack thing then, dude, if you wanted us to be alone.” Stiles rolled his eyes and then squirmed as Peter dug fingers into his side. A rumbling noise of amusement came off his wolf and hot air huffed over his ear. 

“I believe we’ve had several conversations about you not calling me dude, sweetheart.” 

“Have we?” He responded, squeaking at the end as Peter’s fingers started tickling him in earnest. “I’ve forgott-- AH tickles! Save me! Someone! Help!” 

The entire pack completely ignored him. Which, rude. Breathless with laughter, he went limp as Peter rolled him onto his back and grinned down at him. “I have you now, little omega, caught by the big bad alpha.” 

“Oh my god, stop it now. The sweetness is killing me.” Cora’s loud voice echoed over the rest of the pack and fire. Twisting his neck as much as the current position would allow, Stiles gleefully hollered back at her. 

“Oh no, scowlwolf, you ignored me in my moment of great need! This is your punishment!” 

“Yes, niece, as alpha I can do whatever I want, you just have to accept it.” Peter’s smug voice seemed to finish lighting up Cora (who always had a fast burn to violence). With a growl, she leapt over the fire, tackling Peter off him. 

Erica made a loud yodeling cry and slammed into Peter from the side. Stiles scrambled out of the way as the area quickly devolved into a brawl. Making his way over to Miriam, who was still entangled around Derek, he snagged a piece of chocolate to munch on. 

“Soooo...how much sugar are you going to have to burn off before bedtime, shadow?” The innocent look he got in return was a sharp contrast to Derek’s guilty one. He patted the wolf on the back in solidarity. “I know, I know, it’s those pitiful eyes, impossible to say no to unless you are a heartless big brother.” 

Miriam just giggled and clun harder to Derek. “Derek is the best! And I promise to go to bed as long as I get pancakes with blueberries in the morning.” 

“I think I need to stop letting you hang around Peter when he’s negotiating contracts. That’s not how bedtime works Miri, and you know it.” 

The pout he got would have broken a lesser man. But he was no lesser man, so he just raised an unwavering eyebrow in return. She finally broke off the pout with a grumble and turned her attention back to Derek. The noises behind them added in the groan noises he knew by now signaled full shifting. Sighing, he spun around and glared at the four unrepentant wolves blinking back at him. 

“Oh my gods, seriously? Fine, go be big puppies and burn off the energy. Jax, you going too?” 

“Like I’d let them wander off without me.” The one time jock said, giving them all a dismissive glance even as he eagerly undressed to shift. “They’re likely to get lost on their own.” 

As soon as Jackson was shifted, he was pounced upon and wrestled to the ground with growling and yips. Soon, all the wolves of the pack had shifted and were tearing around the house, woods and clearing. Stiles had claimed a now sleepy Miriam from Derek after a bit so the beta could go join the wolves. 

He hadn’t realized he had dozed off until he felt Miriam’s weight being shifted off of him. Blearily opening his eyes, he saw Derek carefully cradling her in arms to start the walk towards the house. The next thing he knew was Peter scooping him up. Humming, he melted into his mate’s arms and shoved his cold nose into Peter’s neck. 

That night, as he drifted off to sleep again, wrapped up in Peter, he realized that he had done it. He really hadn’t believed he could, all those months ago when he’d gone to an alpha and omega mixer. It had been a last ditch, desperate effort to get his sister back and had seemed impossible. He’d thought the best he’d get was an indifferent alpha who would be satisfied as long as he gave them babies. Instead he’d gotten Peter and together they’d built a pack. 

There was still lots to do and people to gather. They’d have to face Talia’s snide remarks tomorrow but at least Laura was softening. He’d have to nix almost all the perspective pack members and deal with that fall out, but Peter had his back. Yes, it had been a good choice, going to that mixer. He was happier now than he had ever thought he could be. Peter and him would figure out the rest together.


End file.
